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THE 


RACES  OF  LANCASHIRE. 


AS    INDICATED    BY 


THE  LOCAL  NAMES 


AND 


THE  DIALECT  OF  THE  COUNTY- 


BY 

THE  REV.  JOHN  DAVIES. 


LONDON: 

PRINTED     BY    TAYLOR    AND     FRANCIS, 

RED  LION  COURT,  FLEET  STREET. 

1856. 


210 
TRANSACTIONS 


OV    TlIK 


PHILOLOGICAL    SOCIETY. 


1855.— No.  13. 


December  7. — Professor  Malden  in  the  Cliair. 

Edward  Stcane  Jackson,  Esq.  INT. A.,  of  Totteridj;c  House, 
Enfield,  Middlesex,  was  elected  a  Member  of  the  Society. 


Dec.  21. — Professor  Goldstucker  in  the  Chair. 

The  following  Paper  was  read,  part  on  each  evening : — 

"  On  the  Races  of  Lancashire,  as  indicatctl  l)y  the  Local 
Names  and  the  Dialect  of  the  County;"  by  the  Rev.  John 
Davies,  M.A. 

It  will  not  1)0  necessary  to  offer  an  apology  for  introducing 
to  the  Philological  Society  the  examination  of  a  dialect,  for  all 
philologists  are  now  well  aware  of  the  importance  of  such 
forms  of  a  language,  both  in  determining  historical  questions, 
and  in  the  examination  of  the  structure  and  progress  of  the 
language  to  Avhich  they  l)elong^.  The  dialect  of  Lancashire 
is  one  of  considerable  importance  for  both  these  purposes, 

*  And  also  for  the  right  interpretation  of  its  early  literature.  Thus,  in 
the  *  Anturs  of  i\jthcr  at  the  Tarnewathelan '  (Three  Metrical  Romances 
published  by  the  Cauulcn  Society),  Danie  Gaynor  is  said  to  "gloi)pun'^ 
and  "greet:" 

"  AUe  glopuus  and  gretys  Dame  Gaynor  the  gay." 

The  poet  imant  to  say,  that  Dame  Gaynor  was  amazed  and  wept ;  but  the 
editor  interprets  the  first  word  to  mean  "  to  wail,"  "  to  lament,"  making 
the  author  utter  a  simple  tautology.  These  romances  belong  to  the 
Border  Line,  along  the  counties  of  Lancaster  and  Westmoreland,  and  in 
the  Lancaster  dialect  to  be  "  glopi)ened,"  is  to  be  greatly  amazed  or 
astonished. 


211 

and  has  not  hitherto,  I  believe,  been  made  the  subject  of  a 
scientific  analysis.  I  propose  in  this  paper  to  determine,  by 
an  examination  of  it,  some  historical  questions  concerning 
the  various  races  that  have  peopled  this  part  of  the  north  of 
England.  In  the  discussion  of  this  subject,  some  light  will 
also  be  thrown  on  an  obscure  period  of  our  national  history. 

The  first  point  to  which  I  would  dii'cct  the  attention  of  the 
Society  is  connected  with  the  Celtic  races  that  peopled  the 
whole,  or  nearly  the  whole,  of  Great  Britain  at  the  time  of 
the  Eoman  invasion.  The  question  has  been  much  discussed 
among  antiquarians,  who  these  races  were ;  and  of  their  sub- 
sequent fate  it  has  been  assumed  by  almost  all  our  historians, 
that  they  were  either  exterminated  by  the  ruthless  swords  of 
the  Anglo-Saxon  conquerors,  or  driven  into  Wales  and  the 
county  of  Cornwall.  The  well-known  historical  fact,  that  a 
nation  has  never  been  wholly  destroyed  by  its  conquerors, 
would  offer,  however,  an  immediate  contradiction  of  this  state- 
ment, which  has  been  e\4dently  made  from  pm-e  ignorance  of 
the  large  Celtic  element  still  existing  in  the  English  language. 
An  examination  of  this  subject  (wliicli  may  fitly  be  commended 
to  the  notice  of  an  English  Philological  Society)  would  show 
that  many  of  our  most  common  and  necessary  words  may  be 
traced  to  a  Celtic  origin.  The  stoutest  assertor  of  a  pure 
Anglo-Saxon  or  Norman  descent  is  con\'icted,  by  the  language 
of  his  daily  life,  of  belonging  to  a  race  that  partakes 
largely  of  Celtic  blood.  If  he  calls  for  his  coat  (W.  cota, 
Germ,  rock),  or  tells  of  the  basket  of  fish  he  has  caught 
(W.  basged,  Germ,  korb),  or  the  cart  he  employs  on  his  land 
(W.  cart,  from  car,  a  dray  or  sledge.  Germ,  ivagen),  or  of  the 
pranks  of  his  youth,  or  the jjrancing  of  his  horse  (W.  prank,  a 
trick,  prancio,  to  frolic) ,  or  declares  that  he  was  hapjjy  when 
a,  gownsman  at  Oxford  (W.  hap,  fortune,  chance.  Germ,  gliick ; 
W.  gwn,  Ir.  gunna),  or  that  his  servant  is pei't  (W.  pert,  spruce, 
dapper,  insolent),  or,  descending  to  the  language  of  the  vulgar, 
he  affirms  that  such  assertions  are  balderdash,  and  the  claim 
a  shaui*  (W.  baldorddus,  idle  prating ;  siom,  pr.  shorn,  a  deceit, 

*  "  In  that  year  ( 1 680),  our  tongue  was  enriched  with  two  words,  mob 


1^ 


,-4-^ 


212 

a  sham),  he  is  unconsciously  maintaining  the  truth  he  would 
deny.  Like  the  M.  Jourdaiu  of  INIoliere,  who  had  been 
talking  prose  all  Iiis  litr  without  knowing  it,  lie  has  been 
speaking  very  good  Celtic  without  any  suspicion  of  the  fact. 

These  instances,  which  niiglit  ])c  midtiplied,  may  justly 
cause  us  to  doubt  whether  the  Celtic  stock  was  either 
wholly  dcstro^■ed  ])v  the  Anglo-Saxons,  or  banished  from 
the  country.  Mr.  Keniblc  Avas  led  to  qiicstion  this  assumed 
fact,  from  finding  in  our  earliest  historical  records  many 
names  which  he  coidd  not  interpret  from  Teutonic  sources. 
"In  the  earliest  period,"  he  writes,  "when  our  docu- 
mentary history  first  throws  light  upon  the  subject,  there 
are  still  found  names  unintelligible  to  the  Teutonic  scholar, 
not  to  be  translated  or  explained  by  anythhig  in  the  Teutonic 
languages ;  nay,  only  to  be  understood  by  reference  to  Cymric 
or  Pictish  roots,  and  thus  tending  to  suggest  a  far  more  general 
mixture  of  blood  among  the  early  conq\icrors  than  has  generally 
been  admitted  to  have  existed."  And  again,  "  I  will  not  close 
this  paper  Avithout  obserAang,  that  a  strict  application  of  Celtic 
philology  to  the  names  Avhich  occur  in  our  earliest  history, 
AA'ould  probably  supply  unlooked-for  eAddenee  of  a  much  closer 
and  more  friendly  intercourse  than  we  at  present  anticipate, 
betAveen  some  classes  of  the  Britons  and  their  Saxon  iuA-aders. 
I  earnestly  recommend  this  inquiry  to  such  members  of  the 
Archaeological  Institute  as  are  capable  of  undertaking  it; 
for  the  real  position  of  the  aborigines  dm-ing  the  Saxon  rule  is 
a  most  important  element  in  the  induction  as  to  the  growth 
and  tendencies  of  our  national  institutions'^."     The  names 


and  sham,  remarkable  memorials  of  a  season  of  tumult  and  imposture" 
(Macaulay's  History  of  England,  vol.  i.  p.  256,  from  North's  Examen). 
This  is  a  mistake  as  to  the  word  sliam.  It  is  an  old  Celtic  word,  and  was 
only  brought  at  that  time  into  common  use  from  the  language  of  the 
vulgar.  Mr.  Carlyle,  in  our  day,  has  made  it  famous.  The  word  means 
properly,  a  void  or  empthiesn,  a  seeming  to  be  something  when  there  is 
nothing,  and  hence  baulking,  disappointment. 

*   "  On  the  Names,  Surnames,  and  Nicknames  of  the  Anglo-Saxons," 
a  Paper  read  before  the  Archaeological  Institute,  Sept.  1845,  pp.  5,  22. 


213 

which  Mr.  Kemble  was  unable  to  explain,  confirm  the  surmise 
Avhicli  his  sagacity  had  prompted.  They  may  easily  be  inter- 
preted from  Celtic  som-ces,  and  can  only  have  been  brought 
into  common  use  from  a  mingling  of  the  Celtic  and  Teutonic 
races. 

Let  us  now  inquire  whether  an  examination  of  ancient 
Celtic  literature  vriW  throw  any  light  on  this  obscure  subject. 
The  Welsh  historical  Triads  have  come  down  to  us;  and,  though 
cast  in  a  fanciful  form,  and  containing  much  respecting  the 
pre-historical  period  that  is  evidently  fabulous,  their  e\ddence 
on  this  subject  has  the  advantage  of  being  contemporaneous, 
or  nearly  so,  with  the  estaljlishment  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  rule. 
We  have  also  the  poem,  called  Y  Gododin,  written  by  Aneurin 
about  A.D.  570,  after  the  disastrous  battle  of  Cattraeth,  in 
which  he  himself  had  taken  a  part.  From  the  Triads  we  learn 
that  Lloegria  (England)  was  peopled  by  various  tribes  at  the 
time  of  the  Saxon  invasion,  and  that  these  tribes  had  arrived 
in  the  country  at  diflerent  periods.  The  sovereignty  of  the 
whole  was  claimed  by  the  race  of  the  Cymry,  or  Cambrians, 
either  tlu'ough  conquest  or  a  prior  occupation  of  the  land. 
"  There  were  three  primary  divisions  of  the  Isle  of  Britain : 
Cambria,  Lloegria,  and  Alban  (Scotland),  and  the  rank  of 
sovereignty  belongs  to  each  of  the  thi'ee.  And  under  a  mon- 
archy and  voice  of  the  countiy  they  are  governed,  according 
to  the  regulation  of  the  Prydain,  the  son  of  Aedd  the  Great ; 
and  to  the  nation  of  the  Cambrians  belongs  the  right  of  esta- 
blishing the  monarchy,  by  the  voice  of  the  coimtry  and  the 
people,  according  to  rank  and  primseval  right "^.^'  This  appears 
to  mean,  that  the  right  of  appointing  the  Pendragon,  or  Com- 
mander-in-chief, rested  with  the  Cambrians,  who  exercised 
also  other  rights  of  sovereignty.  "  There  were  three  refuge- 
seeking  tribes  that  came  to  the  Isle  of  Britain,  and  they  came 
under  the  peace  and  permission  of  the  tribe  of  the  Cambrians, 
without  arms  and  without  opposition.  The  first  was  the  tribe 
of  Caledonians  in  the  north ;  the  second  was  the  Irish  tribe, 

*  '  Welsh  Historical  Triads,'  No.  2,  edition  of  Probert.  Though  Lloegyr 
is  still  the  "Welsh  name  for  England,  there  can  be  no  dovibt  that  the  ancient 
Lloegria  was  much  less  extensive  than  the  present  kingdom. 


whu  dwell   in  the   llij^hliuids  of  Albuu  ;  the  third  were  the 
[)e()[)lc  of  Galediii^  >vlio  came  in  naked  vessels  to  the  Isle  of 
\Viji;ht,  when  their  coiuitry  Avas  drownecL  and  where  they  had 
laud  grantttTto  tlieiin)'y  tlic  trlhe  oFtlie  Cambrians'^."    Otlier 
tribes  or  races  are  mentioned,  who  came  to  the  land  in  a  less 
peaceful  manner,  and  subsequently  left  it,  or  were  expelled. 
Amonj?  these  are  enumerated  Scandinavians,  "who  were  driven 
back,  at  the  end  of  the  third  age,  over  the  sea  into  Germany; 
the  troops  of  Ganval,  the  Irishman,  who  came  into  N.  Wales, 
and  was  driven  into  the  sea  by  Caswallon  (Cassivcllaunus), 
the  son  of  Beli ;  and  the  Cscsarians  (Romans)."     Other  in- 
vadiujjj  tribes  came  into  the  coinitry  and  csta])lishcd  them- 
selves   there,   before    the    invasion    of   the    Saxons.      These 
were,   however,   e^ddently    subject    to    the    authority    of  the 
ridiug  tribe  of  the  Cambrians,   and  appear   to   have  borne 
their  inferior  state  with  reluctance.     They  threw  the  weight 
of  their  arms  into  the  scale  against  the  Cymraic  race,  and 
contril)uted,  in  a  considerable  degree,  to  the  final  success  of 
the  Teutonic  invaders.     There  was  treachery,  too,  and  a  spirit 
of  revolt  among  the  chiefs  of  the  ruling  tribe,  and  some  of 
them  went  over,  with  their  followers,  to  the  Saxon   cause. 
The  nation  Avas  divided  against  itself.     The  Welsh  literature 
of  that  age  shows  that  nearly  the  whole  brunt  of  the  long  and 
desperate  struggle  against  the  Teutonic  races  was  borne  by  the 
single  tribe  or  race  of  the  Cambrians.     They  were  fearfidly 
slaughtered  ;  their  heroic  gallantry  availing  them  little  against 
the  fierce  courage  of  the  invading  tribes,  and  the  treachery  of 
their  kindi'ed  races.     But  the  contest  was  boldly  maintained 
vmtil  the  whole  of  the  race  was  either  reduced  to  the  condi- 
tion of  slavery,  or  driven  to  the  mountain  fastnesses  of  Wales. 
Of  this  single  race,  therefore,  the  popular  idea  is  partly  true 
(allowing  that  many  of  the  Cambrians  remained  in  the  country 
as  slavesf),  though  wholly  false  with  respect  to  the  other  tribes, 

*  Welsh  Triads,  No.  G. 

t  Bede  mentions  slaves  as  living  among  the  Saxons.  (Eccles.  Hist, 
lib.  iv.  c.  13.)  These  were  most  probably  Britons.  Camden  makes  a 
quotation  from  an  old  record,  which  establishes  this  fact,  with  regard  to 
the   county  of  Lancaster  :   "  Egfrid  gave  to  St.  Cuthbert  the  laud  called 


215 

which  were,  for  the  most  part,  certainly  Celtic.     "  There  were 
three  invading  tribes/'  say  the  Triads,  "  that  cainc  to  the  Isle 
of  Britain,  and  who  never  departed  from  it.     The  first  were 
the  Coranians,  that  came  from  the  country  of  Pwyl.     The 
second  were  the  Irish  Picts,  who  came  to  Alban  Ijy  the  North 
Sea.     And  the  third  were  the  Saxons.     The  Coranians  are 
settled  about  the  river  Humber  and  the  shore  of  the  Ger- 
man Ocean,   and  the  Irish  Picts  are  in    Alban,   about    the 
shore  of  the  Sea  of  Denmark.     The  Coranians  and  Saxons 
united,  and,  by  violence  and  conquest,  brought  the  Lloegrians 
into  confederacy  with  them,  and  subsequently  took  the  crown 
of  the  monarchy  from  the  tribe  of  the  Cambrians.     And  there 
remained  none  of  the  Lloegrians  that  did  not  become  Saxons, 
except  those  that  are  found  in  Cornwall,  and  in  the  commot  of 
Carnoban  in  Deira  (Yorkshire)  and  Bernicia  (Northumberland 
and  Durham) .     In  this  manner  the  primitive  tribe  of  the  Cara- 
Ijrians,  who  preserved  both  their  country  and  their  language, 
lost  the  sovereignty  of  the  Isle  of  Britain,  on  account  of  the 
treachery  of  the  refage-seeking  tribes,  and  the  pillage  of  the 
three  invading  tribes.^'     Among  the  traitorous  Cambrians  are 
mentioned  G^iTgi  Garwlwyd,  who  joined  himself,  with  his  men, 
to  Edelfled,  King  of  the  Saxons ;  Medrod,  who  united  with 
the  Saxons  that  he  might  secure  the  kingdom   to  himself, 
against  Arthur ;  and,  "  in  consequence  of  that  treachery,  many 
of  the  Lloegrians  became  as   Saxons;"   and  Aeddan,    "the 
traitor  of  the  north,  who,  with  his  men,  made  submission  to 
the  power  of  the  Saxons  that  they  might  be  able  to  support 
themselves  by  confusion  and  pillage  under  the  Saxon  pro- 
tection^." 

The  poem  of  Gododin  confirms  these  statements.      The 

Carthmell  (Cartmel,  near  Ulverston),  and  all  the  Britons  in  it  (Britannia, 
vol.  iii.  p.  380)." 

*  Triads  7,  22,  45  and  81.  In  the  15th  Triad,  the  Csesarians,  or  de- 
scendants of  the  Roman  colonists,  are  said  to  have  joined  the  Coranians  and 
the  Saxons  in  opposing  the  tribe  of  the  Cymry.  This  does  not  seem  to  ac- 
cord with  the  statement  of  some  historians,  that  Ambrosius,  the  celebrated 
Pendragon,  was  of  Roman  descent ;  but  probably  he  was  so  only  on  tlie  mo- 
ther's side,  as  chieftainship  was  rigidly  confined  among  the  ancient  Britons 
to  certain  ruling  families.     Giidas  says  only  "  forte  Romans'  gentis." 


216 

brave  hut  ill-fated  warriors^  whose  loss  the  poet  laments  with 
deep  pathos,  arc  of  the  Cambrian  raee.  Their  spears  had 
bcforetime  broken  tlic  ranks  of  "the  horde  of  Lloegrians/' 
and  of  the  Gael.  On  the  Saxon  side  are  the  men  of  Deivyr 
and  Bryneich  (Deira  ami  Bernieia).  The  son  of  Ysgyran 
makes  a  fearful  slaughter  of  these  traitorous  bands. 

"  Five  battalions  fell  before  his  blades. 
Even  of  the  men  of  Deivyr  and  Bernieia,  uttering  groans." 

The  wrath  of  the  poet  flames  forth  against  the  tribe  of  Bry- 
neich ;  not  "the  phantom  of  a  man"  would  he  have  left  alive 
of  the  hated  race;  and  Bryneich  (Northumbrian)  remained 
from  that  liour,  in  the  language  of  the  Cymry,  a  term  of 
bitter  and  indignant  scorn  as  the  name  of  a  traitor"^. 

From  these  testimonies  it  is  evident  (1),  That  the  tribe  of 
the  Cambrians,  or  Cymry,  was  only  one  of  many  tribes  or 
races  in  England  at  the  time  of  the  Saxon  invasion.  (2),  That 
it  was  the  ruling  tribe^  exercising  an  undefined  sovereignty 
over  the  rest.  (3),  That  the  other  tribes  offered  little^  if  any, 
resistance  to  the  incursions  of  the  Teutonic  races,  and  in  part 
coalesced  with  them  against  the  tribe  of  the  Cambrians.  (4), 
That,  besides  the  Cambrians  who  remained  in  the  country  as 
slaves,  a  large  Celtic  population  was  blended  with  the  Teutonic 
stock,  and  became  "  as  Saxons,"  It  is  a  necessary  inference, 
that  a  Celtic  element  woidd  gradually  penetrate  into  the  lan- 
guage of  the  conquering  race,  and  affect  it  in  proportion  to 
the  numbers  and  influence  of  those  who  adopted  the  Saxon 
cause,  and  became  mingled  with  the  Saxon  population. 

It  is  scarcely  possible  to  determine  with  certainty  what  the 
races  were  that  are  said  by  the  Triads  to  have  leagued  Avith 
the  Saxons  against  the  tribe  of  the  Cymry.  The.Coranians 
are  called  in  one  of  the  Triads  Scandinavians,  and  are  said  to 
have  come  from  Pwyl  (Poland).  They  miited  themselves  to  the 
Saxons  at  once,  probaT)ly  through  the  sympathy  arising  from 
an  identity  of  race.  They  were,  in  all  probability,  of  the  tribe 
of  the  Carini,  classed  bv  Prichard  Avith  the  Burscundiones, 
Varini,  Guttones,  and  other  tribes  inhabiting  the  north-east  of 

*  See  the   notes  to  the  edition  of  '  Y  Gododin,'  edited  by  the  Rev.  J. 
\Villiaras,  pp.  89  and  JM. 


J' 

217               ^  C/'  7.J-^i 

r  •- 


Germany,  ou  the  shores  of  the  Baltic,  and  along  the  banks  of 
the  Vistula.     The  origin  assigned  to  them  in  the  Triads  is 
.  tlierefore  apparently  correct,  for  the  Carini  are  connected  by 
Pliny^vTtli  the  Guttones,  whose  territory  extended  along  the 
Vistula  to  the  modern  kingdom  of  Poland.     ''  Vindili,  quorum 
pars    Burgnndiones,    Varini,    Carini,    Guttones."      Prichard 
gives  no  other  information  of  the  Carini  than  that  "  they  are 
entirely  losf^."     We  may  infer,  that  they  were  compelled  to 
migrate  by  their  more  powerful  neighbours,  and  that  they 
settled  on  the  banks  of  the  Hunibcr. — The  Lloegrians  were 
probably  a  kindred  race  with    the    Cambrians;    a   different 
branch  of  the  Celtic  stock.     It  is  evident  that  they  were  Celtic, 
from  their  connexion  with  Medrod,  the  nephew  of  Arthur, 
and  from  the  circumstance  that  the  Cambrians,  in  opposition 
to  them,  are  said  to  have  preserved  their  language,  implying 
that  the  Lloegrians  had  gradually  adopted  the  language  of  the 
S  axons  f.     It  is  reasonable  to  infer,  however,  that  the  lan- 
guage was  not  precisely  the  same,  as  the  races  were  distinct ; 
and  since  Edward  LhuydJ   has  shown  that  some  names  of 
places  in  England  may  be  best  interpreted  from  the  Irish 
branch    of   the   Celtic   stock,   it  is  probable  that  they  were 
related    to    the   Irish    tribes.      The    difference    between    the 
Irish    and  Welsh  languages  was  doubtless    less    than    it    is 
now.      These    views   receive    some    confirmation   from    the 
folloA^ing  facts: — (1.)    Asser,   in   his    "^Life    of  Alfred,'    has 
recorded   the    British    name    of    the    town    of  Nottingham. 
"  Eodem  anno  (a.  d.  868)  paganorum  exercitus  Northanhym- 
bras  relinquens  in  Mercian!  venit,  et  Scnottengahara  adiil, 
quod  Britannice  Tigguocobauc  interpretatur,  Latine  autem 
speluncarum  domus :  et  in  eodem  loco  eodem  anno  hyema- 
verunt,"     Now  in  Gael,  and  Ir.  tigh  means  a  "house,^'  and 
uaigh  (uagaidh  in  Gael.)   a  "cave"  or  "den,"  uagidheach, 
"  cavernous ;"  in  W.  the  corresponding  forms  are  ty  and  ogof. 
(2.)  In  the  ballads  of  Robin  Hood  and  Sherwood  Forest  (iu 
the  same  locality),  and  in   the  Vision  of  Piers  Ploughman, 

*  Priehard's  '  Researches  into  the  Physical  History  of  Mankind,'  vol.  iii. 
p.  .^(il.  t  Triad  7- 

X  Archaeologia  Britannica. 

R 


218 

written  pr()l)iil)ly  near  Malvern,  the  Avord  used  for  "horse"  is 
capitll.  This  is  the  Gael,  and  Ir.  cupnU.  The  W.  form  ccffijl 
is  foinul  in  the  Craven  country.  (Carr's  Glossaiy,  v.  kepJujU.) 
(3.)  I'ouiponius  Mela  (do  Britaunis,  lib.  iii.)  has  given  us  the 
liritish  name  for  a  chariot.  "  Diniicant  bigis  et  curribus, 
GalUce  armati, . . .  covinos  vocant."  This  is  the  Gael,  cobhan 
(a  coU'cr,  a  car  or  chariot),  Gr.  K6(f)ivo<;.  This  word  is  not 
found  in  the  modern  Welsh  language,  (see  Armstrong's  Gael. 
Diet.  s.  V.  co/j/iaii.) — The  tribes  that  inhabited  Dcira  and  Ber- 
nicia  were  probably  of  the  Cambrian  race.  This  would  account 
for  the  extreme  bitterness  Avith  Avhich  their  treachery  was 
denomiced,  as  bemg  treason  to  their  own  kindred.  The  word 
"  brjnicich'^  became  a  term  of  reproach  in  this  very  sense. 
It  is  the  appellation  of  a  traitor  to  his  kindred  or  race. 

If  we  proceed  to  incjuire  into  the  evidence  which  the  local 
names  and  the  dialect  of  Lancashire  offer  with  regard  to  these 
historical  statements,  it  "snll  be  found  that  it  confirms  them 
in  tAvo  particulars : — (1.)  That  a  large  Celtic  popidation  must 
have  been  left  in  the  county  after  the  establishment  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  rule,  and — (2.)  That  this  population  Avas  of  the 
Welsh  or  Cymraic  race.  Very  few  words  are  found  that 
belong  exclusively  to  the  elder  or  Gaelic  branch  of  the  Celtic 
stock,  and  probably  even  tliese  were  common  to  both  divisions 
of  this  class  of  languages  at  the  time  of  the  Saxon  invasion. 

Celtic  Names  of  Natural  Objects  and  of  Places  in  the  County 

of  Lancaster. 

Mountains  and  Hills. 

Pendle  Hill"^.  W.  pen,  head  or  summit,  a  common  name 
in  Wales  for  a  lofty  summit,  as  PenmaenmaAvr,  Penbryn,  &c., 
Gael,  ben,  binnear,  hill.  This  w^ord  is  Ava'itten  in  our  old 
records  "  Penhidl,"  and  is  an  instance  of  three  parts  of  a 
single  name,  all  haAing  the  same  meaning,  and  marking  three 
successive  changes  of  language:  V(.  pen;  A.-S.  hull;  E.  hill. 

*  It  will  assist  the  reading:  of  Welsh  words,  to  say  that  "«;"  is  pro-  . 
nounced  as  the  Enghsh  "  oo  "  {bwg^=boog) ;  si  as  sh  ;  dd  as  soft  th ;    y  as 
the  Eng.  ii,  except  in  monosyllables,  when  it  is  pronounced  as  3^  in  "  pretty"  ; 
u  as  i  in  "  sin,"  and  sometimes  with  a  longer  sound,  as  Eng.  ee. 


219 

CoNisTON  Old  Man.  A  corruption,  as  Dr.  Whittaker  has 
pointed  out,  of  alt  maen,  lofty  liill'^.  The  word  "  alt"  is  not 
retained  in  the  Celtic  languages  as  an  adjective,  but  that  it 
was  originally  so  used  may  be  inferred  fi'oni  the  W.  allt,  a  cliff, 
and  Gael,  alt,  a  hill.  The  word  is  retained  in  Allt  Hill,  a 
rising  ground  not  far  from  Oldham. 

Rixingtou  Pike.  W./(ic  or  pig,  a  pointed  end,  a  beak ;  Arm. 
picq,  ¥r.  pic,  as  in  the  Pic  du  Midif.  There  are  other  hills 
so  called  in  the  county,  as  Warlow  Pike,  on  the  borders  of 
Derbyshire,  and  Thieveley  Pike,  near  Todmorden. 

Hentoe.  The  name  of  a  high  hill  near  Conistou:  W.  hen, 
old,  and  tivr',  a  pile.  The  old  name  of  this  hill  was  Hentor. 
The  word  "  tor,"  a  lofty  pile,  either  hill  or  tower,  is  found  in 
almost  aU  the  Semitic  and  Indo-European  languages. 

Thorn  Crag  and  Long  Crag.  Two  high  hills  near  the  great 
chase  of  Bowland.     W.  craig,  a  rock;  Gael,  and  Ir.  craig. 

Sholver.  a  hill  not  far  from  Oldham.  W.  siol  (pr.  shot), 
head,  and  vawr,  great. 

Tandle  Hills,  near  Middleton.  W.  tan,  flat,  low,  con- 
tinuous, or  tan,  fire,  and  lie,  a  place. 

Bry.v.  The  name  of  a  place  in  South  Lancashire.  W.  bryn, 
hill.  There  was  an  old  family  (now  extinct)  of  this  name, 
the  Bnois  of  Bryn  Hall,  now  the  seat  of  the  Gerard  family. 

BuERsiLL  Hill,  near  Rochdale.  W.  bwr,  an  entrenchment, 
and  sul  (pr.  sil),  what  extends  round,  circular. 

Crimbles,  in  the  north  of  Lancashire.  W.  crimell,  a  sharp 
ridge.     The  word  is  written  in  the  Domesday  Book,  crimeles. 

TooTER  Hni.  This  is  the  local  name  used  by  the  covmtry 
people,  though  the  name  given  in  the  county  maps  is  Horn- 
blower's  Hill.  W.  twdd  (pr.  tooth),  that  which  juts  out,  or 
from  the  name  of  the  Celtic  god,  TaithJ. 

*  Journal  of  the  Arehseol.  Association,  vol.  vi.  p.  269. 

t  Gael,  peac,  peic,  any  sharp-pointed  thing. 

X  "  Tumuli  of  a  lofty  character,  sacred  to  Mercury,  were  the  Teuts  or 
Toot-hills  of  our  country,"  according  to  Mr.  Bowles,  from  the  identity  of 
Mercury  or  Teutates.  Cleeve  Toot,  co.  Somerset,  is  capped  bj'  a  mass  of 
rocks,  which  from  below  has  all  the  appearance  of  an  altar.  Tothill  Street, 
Westminster,  says  Morden,  a  topographer  of  Ehzabeth's  reign,  "  taketh 

r2 


220 

Duiix,  or,  as  the  lower  classes  call  it,  Tli'  Durii.  W.  duryn^ 
a  beak  or  snout.  It  is  a  j)rojeetiug  point  or  ledge  of  land 
near  Blaekstone  Edge. 

Other  Celtic  names  of  hills  woidd  doubtless  be  found  if  the 
names  used  by  the  country  people  were  carefully  collected, 
but  these  wiU  sutHce  to  show  that  many  have  been  derived 
from  a  Celtic  source,  and  that  they  belong  to  the  Cambrian 
division  of  the  Celtic  class  of  languages*. 

Rivers  and  Valleys. 

The  names  of  the  rivers  and  brooks  of  Lancashire  are 
chiefly  Celtic. 

The  IiiwELL,  on  -which  the  city  of  Manchester  stands.  W. 
Ir,  fresh,  vigorous,  and  yivili,  a  name  for  river,  as  the  Gwili 
in  Caermarthcnshire ;  properly,  that  which  turns  or  winds,  a 
winding  stream.   In  composition,  gA\ali  loses  the  initial  "g"t- 

The  Irk,  a  trilnitary  of  the  Irwell.  W.  Iwrch,  the  roe- 
buck. Lhuyd  in  his  '  Adversaria/  says  there  are  many 
streams  so  called  in  Wales.  Probably  from  bounding  along 
a  hill-course. 

The  Medlock,  another  tributary  of  the  Irwell.  W.  med, 
complete,  full,  and  Uwch,  Gael.  locJi,  lake  or  pool. 

The  DorGLAs,  flowing  into  the  estuary  of  the  Ribble.  W.  du, 
black  and  glas,  a  greenish  blue,  or  sea-green,  so  called  from 
the  colour  of  the  stream. 

The  RiBBLE.    The  name  of  this  well-known  river  has  much 

name  of  a  hill  near  it,  which  is  called  Toote-hill,  in  the  great  feyld  near  the 
street."  (Fosbroke,  Encyc.  of  Antiquities,  vol.  ii.  p.  582.)  This,  however, 
is  not  the  Tuisco  or  Teut  of  the  Germans,  but  the  Celtic  Taith,  the  god  of 
travelling.  Livy  refers  to  Mercurius  Teutates  (in  Welsh  Duw  Taith)  in 
his  twenty-sixth  book.  (Prichard,  vol.  iii.  p.  186.) 

*  Dr.  Wiiitfikcr  found  that  a  hill  between  Lancaster  and  the  great  chase 
of  Bowland  was  called  by  the  peasantry  Gloufugh  or  Cloufagh,  and  he  sug- 
gests the  W.  glawog,  rainy,  as  the  origin  of  the  name.  I  prefer  the  Gael. 
globach,  {rom  glo,  a  veil  or  hood,  as  Beinn-glo  (the  cloud-capped  mountain), 
near  Atliol. 

t  The  root  gvcili  was  transferred  to  Anglo-Saxon.  "  yErest  of  Turcan- 
wyllas  hcafde"  (first  from  the  source  of  the  Turcan  stream),  is  found  in 
Kemble's  A.S.  Charters  (i.  109). 


221 

perplexed  antiquarian  philologists.  I  can  only  venture  to 
suggest  that  it  may  be  compounded  of  rhe  (active,  fleet),  and 
bala  (a  shooting  out,  a  discharge,  the  outlet  of  a  lake),  and 
may  refer  to  its  rapid  coiu'se  as  an  estuary. 

The  Calder,  a  tributary  of  the  Ribble.  Mr.  Baxter  de- 
rives the  first  part  of  this  word  from  calai,  muddy.  In  W. 
llai  (pr.  somewhat  like  the  Eng.  clay),  signifies  "mud"  and 
also  "  gloom,"  but  this  is  not,  I  think,  the  origin  of  "  cal"  in 
Calder.  More  probably  from  W.  call,  what  goes  or  tm-ns 
about.  The  latter  part  is  doubtless  from  the  W.  dwr,  a 
stream. 

The  Darwen,  another  tributary  of  the  Ribble.  W.  ihvr, 
and  gwen,  white,  beautiful. 

The  Luxe,  on  which  the  town  of  Lancaster  stands.  This 
word  is  probably  the  same  as  the  Alun  in  Wales,  fi'om  W.  at, 
chief,  and  aun,  un,  a  contraction  of  afon,  a  river  ■^.  This  con- 
traction of  "  afon  "  is  not  uncommon.  It  is  found  in  Corn- 
brook,  near  Manchester,  [Cor -aun,  narrow  stream). 

The  Wyre,  a  river  that  flows  into  Morecambe  Bay.  W. 
givyr,  pm'c,  fresh,  lively. 

The  rivers  Irwell,  Ribble,  Lune  and  Wyre  are  the  chief 
rivers  in  Lancashire,  the  Mersey  being  a  boundary  stream 
between  the  comities  of  Lancaster  and  Chester.  Other 
smaller  streams  in  the  comity  are  the  Nadin,  W.  nacl,  a 
shrill  noise ;  nadu,  to  utter  a  shrill  cry.  (The  termination 
"  in,"  is  either  the  Celtic  name  for  river,  In  or  Inn,  as  the 
Inn  in  the  Tyrol  and  in  Fifeshire  :  or  formative,  as  geli,  a 
shooting  out,  gelhi,  what  shoots  out  t ;)  Beal,  W.  bel,  tumult, 
belli,  to  brawl ;  Derwent,  W.  dwr,  river,  and  gwent,  a  level 

*  On  referring  to  the  Itinerarj'  of  Antoninus,  I  find  that  the  name  of  the 
station  where  Lancaster  now  stands  was  Ad  Alaunam.  The  name  of  the 
river  was  therefore  Alauua. 

t  Mr.  Bamford,  in  his  Glossary  of  South  Lancashire  Words,  a  work 
equally  unworthy  of  the  subject  and  the  author,  derives  the  name  of  this 
stream  from  na,"no,"  and  din,  "noise,"  "the  silent  stream ."  Unfortunately, 
however,  for  this  attempt  at  etymology,  the  Nadin  is  not  a  silent  stream ; 
and  if  I\Ir.  Bamford  had  ever  heard  it  rushing  in  winter  along  its  narrow, 
rocky  channel,  he  would  scarcely  have  been  lui'ed  by  the  "  fatal  facility  " 
of  such  a  derivation. 


223 

coimtry;  Leven,  W.  llefn,  sinootli;  Tame,  W.  Tato,  anciently 
Tarn,  quiet,  still,  Gael,  tamh,  stillness;  Goyt,  W.gw?/th,  a  chan- 
nel, a  drain;  Crake,  W.  arc,  a  sharp  noise;  Loud,  W.  I/wth, 
glib,  sli])pcry ;  and  Kennet,  prononnccd  hy  the  country 
people  Kimnet,  a  river  on  the  north  shore  of  Morccambc  Bay. 
This  last  word  is  a  coraponnd  of  the  W.  cyn,  head,  chief,  and 
nedd  (pr.  neth),  a  river,  properly  that  which  turns  or  Avhirls,  a 
whirllnfi;  stream. 

To  these  may  he  added  the  Bay  of  JNIouecambe,  W.  mawr, 
Gael.  ?//o?*,  gi'cat,  and  cam,  crooked,  windinj^-;  and  Winander, 
or  AYixDER  Mere,  W.  (jwyn  (fair,  beautiful),  and  dwr  (water, 
stream). 

Valleys. 

DoLDERUM  or  DoLDRUM,  a  vallcy  near  Rochdale.  W;  dol, 
a  dale,  and  trum,  in  comp.  (hnim,  a  ridge,  primarily,  a  back. 

Crag  Valley,  a  long  irregular  valley  near  Blackstone 
Edge.  W.  crai(/,  a  rock.  This  vaUey  is  also  called  the  Vale 
of  TuRViN,  W.  terft/n  (pr.  turvin),  a  boundary,  terr(je  finis. 
This  valley  Avas  probably  in  old  time  the  boundary  in  this 
part  between  the  Sistuntii  of  Lancashire  and  the  Brigantes  of 
Yorkshire. 

Names  of  Places. 

Manchester,  ancient  British  name  Mancenion,  or  Man- 
ceinion.  This  metropolis  of  the  north  can  boast  of  the  most 
remote  antiquity.  Its  i  ame  would  indicate  a  Celtic  origin, 
for  "  man "  is  undoubtedly  the  W.  man,  a  place ;  but  the 
meaniiig  of  the  latter  part  of  ths  name  has  given  rise  to  some 
controversy.  Dr.  Whitaker  says,  t  fter  Baxter,  that  the  word 
means  "  the  place  of  teuts^,"  but  "  cenion  "  in  Welsh  means 
"  skins,^'  and  the  secondary  meaning  of  "  tents  "  is  purely  a 
conjecture.  In  SpmTcU's  W.  Dictionary  the  Celtic  name  is 
written  jNIanccinion,  and  "ceinion"  is  the  W.  word  for 
"  ornaments "  or  "  delicacies."  It  is  scarcely  possible  to 
determine  more  than  that  the  name  is  Celtic.  In  this 
instance,  as  in  many  others,  the  Saxon  conquerors  retained 
*  Ilist.  of  Maiiolicster,  vol.  i.  p.  5. 


v--*' 


v^ 


223 

only  the  first  part  of  the  ancient  name^  adding  Chester  to 
mark  that  it  had  been  a  Roman  station. 

Mellor,  near  Blackburn.    W.  maelawr,  a  mart  or  market. 
Catterall,  near  Garstang.    W.  cad  or  cat,  war,  and  rhail, 
a  fence.     There  was  doubtless  a  British  encampment  here. 
ToRVER,  near  Coniston  Water.     W.  twr,  a  pile  or  tower, 
^    and  vawr,  great. 

Trows,  a  \allage  in  the  township  of  Castleton ;  and  TrawdeUj 
^       ,  ^  near  Colne.     W.  traws,  a  mountain  pass.     There  is  a  place    *    '""^ 
fv^-^   called  Trawsfynydd  (mountain-pass),  in  Merionethshire. 

Clegg,  Clegg  Plall,  in  the  parish  of  E-ochdale.     W.  cleg,  a 

,  rock,  a  chff.     This  word,  as  a  personal  name,  was  as  common 

in  very  ancient  times  as  it  is  in  Lancashire  at  the  present 

.  * .;!         day.     Syr  Clegius  was  a  famous  knight,   according  to  old 

legends,  at  King  Arthm-'s  com't,  and,  as  such,  he  figures  in 

the  jNIorte  d' Arthur  and  the  Tlu'ee  Metrical  Romances,  pub- 

^/*M- '"  lished  by  the  Camden  Society. 

Peel,  on  the  Roman  road  from  Manchester  to  Blackrod. 
W.  pill,  a  small  fortress,  a  stronghold.  This  word  is  common 
in  the  county  as  a  local  name.  There  is  an  ancient  British 
encampment  near  Stockport  (the  moat  of  which  is  still  vi- 
sible), which  the  comitry  people  call  the  Peel.  The  rude 
towers  to  which  the  northern  borderers  brought  their  prey 
after  a  foray  are  still  called  by  this  name  ^. 

Lever.     This  is  a  name  occurring  tlu'ee  or  four  times  in 

*  Mr.  Williams,  in  his  edition  of  Prof.  Leo's  work  on  Anglo-Saxon 
names,  has  the  following  note  (Preface,  p.  x.).  "A  recent  anonymous 
writer  in  the  Times  remarks,  that  with  the  exception  of  Chai'les  Fox,  Gil- 
bert a  Becket — and  his  mother  was  an  Arab — and  the  late  Sir  Robert  Peel 
(qu.  whether  even  this  be  not  the  French  ^jeZZe,  a  baker's  shovel. — Ed.),, 
our  history  does  not  record  one  great  or  illustrious  name  of  Saxon  origin. 
Bruce,  Wallace,  Chandos,  Audley,  Talbot,  Fitzwalter,  Langton,  Blake, 
IIoj)ton,  Falkland,  Chatham,  Pitt,  were  as  purely  and  unmixed  Normans 
as  Wellington  himself.  Cecil,  Gleudower,  Vane,  the  good  Lord  Cobhani, 
Cromwell,  and  in  general  the  leaders  of  the  Calvinistic  party,  sprang  from 
the  Ancient  Britons.  Milton  was  half  Norman,  half  French."  This 
however  is  overstrained,  and  the  writer  has  fallen  into  an  evident 
confusion  between  names  and  family  descent,  as  some  of  the  names  he 
mentions  are  pure  Saxon.  Peel  is  not  from  the  Fr.  pelle,  but  is  the 
Celtic/,)/'/  (peel). 


/¥ 


224 

the  south  of  Lancashire.  There  are  Darey  Lever,  Great  and 
Little  Lever,  and  Lever  Edge.  It  is  probably  eompomided 
of  W.  lie,  a  plaee,  and  ramr,  great. 

Werneth.  W.  gwern,  a  watery  or  swampy  meadow.  The 
word  also  means  the  alder  tree,  from  its  preference  of  a 
swam])y  spot,  llenee  the  name  of  the  hill  in  Yorkshire, 
Whcrnside,  near  the  boundaiy  line  of  the  two  counties,  on 
whose  north  side  the  alder  still  gTows  in  profusion. 

RossALL,  on  the  moorland  near  Fleetwood.  W.  rhos,  a 
moor. 

Caun'fohth  and  Scotforth,  in  the  north  of  the  county. 
W.  cam,  a  heap  of  stones,  and  fordd,  a  road.  The  Celtic 
word  "  fordd,"  now  appropriated  to  a  road  over  a  stream, 
means  simply  "road"  or  "passage"^."  The  Avord  "Scot" 
may  be  a  sign  of  the  ancient  Irish  Scoti,  of  whose  permission 
to  dwell  in  the  country  the  Welsh  Triads  have  given  us  an 
account. 

Brinsup,  not  from  Blackrode.  W.  hryn,  hill,  and  swp,  a 
heap  or  cluster. 

CiNDERLAND.  Tlicrc  arc  at  least  three  places  in  the  county 
with  this  name.  There  is  also  Cinder  Hill  in  the  north.  As 
the  English  word  "  cinder  "  offers  no  reasonable  explanation 
of  this  name,  we  may  assume,  Avithout  rashness,  that  it  is  the 
W.  cyndir,  principal  or  head  land. 

Penketh,  Pendleton,  Penwortiiam.  Here  the  first 
syllable  is  the  W.  pen,  head  or  summit. 

There  are  some  other  names  of  places  which  may  probably 
be  referred  to  a  Celtic  origin,  as  Heskin,  Hesketh  (W.  hesg, 
sedge,  rushes) ;  Gigg,  W.  gvng,  a  retreat  or  opening  in  a 
wood,  and  afterwards,  hamlet,  fortress  f ;  Sakneyford  or 
Sharneyford,  W.  sarn,   stepping-stones,   a  causcAvay ;    but 

*  The  word  "  forth,"  as  the  A.S.fyrhthe,  may  be,  as  Prof.  Leo  of  Halle 
admits,  after  Kenible,  from  the  W.fridd  {]n-.  frith),  a  plantation,  a  tract 
of  ground  enclosed  from  the  mountains,  a  sheep-walk. 

t  "  Cognoscit  nou  longe  ex  eo  loco  oiipidum  Cassivellauni  abesse  sylvis 
paludibnsque  munitum  ;  quo  satis  magnus  hominum  pecorisque  numerus 
convenerit.  Opjndum  autem  Britanni  voeant,  quum  sylvas  impeditas  vallo 
atque  fossa  munierunt." — Caesar,  De  Bell.  Gall.  lib.  v.  c.  20. 


225 

the  number  of  Celtic  names  of  places  is  much  less  than  of  the 
names  of  natui'al  objects  or  of  the  Celtic  words  foimd  in  the 
dialect"^.  The  Saxons  or  Danes  gave  their  own  names  to  the 
town  or  village  of  which  they  took  possession,  while  the  river 
that  flowed  bv,  or  the  hill  that  rose  above  it,  retained  its 
original  Celtic  appellation.  Thus  the  river  Ccmi  (crooked, 
winding)  retains  the  name  which  the  Celtic  tribes  had  given 
it,  but  ^'Caer  Bladdon"  has  given  way  to  "Cambridge;" 
and  the  Thames  is  in  name  Celtic  still,  while  "  Caer  Ludd  " 
has  been  changed  into  "London;"  the  Avon,  too,  is  yet  as 
pm-ely  Celtic  in  name  as  when  the  Celtic  tribes  roved  along 
its  banks,  but  "  Caerodor "  has  left  no  trace  in  "  Bristol," 
nor  "  Amwythig"  in  "  Shrewsbmy,"  though  the  Severn  is  as 
Celtic  as  the  hill  Plinlimmon,  from  whose  side  it  springs.  The 
number  of  Celtic  names  of  towns  and  Aollagcs  in  Lancashire 
that  have  survived  the  great  torrent  of  Saxon  invasion, 
is  a  proof  of  the  strength  and  extent  of  the  barrier  that 
ojiposed  it. 

The  Celtic  local  names  of  the  county  are  conclusive  evi- 
dence of  the  fact  that  a  Celtic  race  once  inhabited  it,  but  the 
Celtic  words  still  existing  in  the  dialect  show  more  decisively 

/''    that  a  portion  of  the  aboriginal  race  remained  on  the  soil 
after  the  Anglo-Saxon  and  Danish  conquerors  had  taken  pos- 
!  session  of  it.     They  furnish  also  data  for  an  approximate  cal- 

culation of  the  ratio  which  this  element  bears  to  that  of  the 
races  with  which  it  was  mingled  in  process  of  time. 

*  There  are,  however,  many  names  which  are  utterly  inexplicable  by  any 
of  the  Teutonic  languages,  and  invite  conjecture,  on  this  account,  in  an- 
other field.  Thus  Breighmet  Fold,  near  Bolton,  would  suggest,  in  name 
at  least,  the  Bremetonacum  of  the  Itineraries.  We  know  fiora  Fortunatus 
(Prichard,  vol.  iii.  p  127),  that  ''nemet"  was  a  Celtic  word  for  temple, 
and  "  breigh"  may  be  the  W.  brir/,  top  or  summit,  implying  that  a  high  or 
chief  temple  was  there  in  the  pagan  times.  So  Camel  Hill  may  be  referred 
to  the  Celtic  god  of  war,  Camulus ;  and  Eccles,  near  Manchester,  may  be 
from  the  W.  eylwys,  Lat.  eeclesia,  and  may  indicate  that  a  Christian  temple 
wa.s  built  there  before  the  time  of  the  Saxon  invasion.  These,  however, 
are  little  more  than  conjectures.  It  can  only  be  certainly  affirmed  that 
such  names  are  not  Teutonic,  and  are  therefore  most  probably  Celtic. 


226 
Celtic  Words  in  the  Dialect  of  Lancashire*. 

Addle,  rotten,  decayed,  as  an  addle  egg.  W.  hadlu,  to 
decay,  to  grow  rotten ;  "  addle  "  is  also  used  as  a  verb,  and 
means  to  earn,  to  get  by  laborn*.  In  this  sense  it  is  derived 
from  the  A.-S.  edlecin,  a  reward,  a  recompense. 

Agog,  eager,  desirous.  W.  7jsrjo(ji,  to  stir,  to  wag.  There 
is  a  burlesque  French  word  gogues,  "  etrc  dans  ses  gogues," 
to  be  in  a  merry  mood,  which  is  probably  from  the  same 

root. 

AwsE  or  Oss,  to  offer,  to  attempt.     W.  osi,  to  offer  to  do,  to 

attempt.     Fr.  essayer. 

Badger,  a  provision-dealer.  This  word  may  be  fr^om  the 
Fr.  hiadier,  as  sodger,  fi'om  soldier ;  but  as  the  Fr.  term  is 
from  the  Celtic  blmvd,  meal,  it  is  possible  that  the  Lan- 
cashire word  may  be  derived  as  directly  fi-oni  a  Celtic 
source  as  the  French.  ■  Mr.  Carr  (Craven  Glos^aij)  derives  it 
fi-om  Teut.  katzen  (diseurrere) .  A//*'*-*^*^    i  jlf'         ^ 

Balderdash,  nonsense,  idle  talk.  W.  baJdorddus  (prating, 
talkuig),  from  bul,  what  jets  out,  and  tordd  (a  din,  a  tunndt), 
according  to  Dr.  Owen  Pughe.  The  word  is  midoubtedly 
Celtic,  though  found  in  the  Isl.  baldur  and  the  Fris.  bidder. 

Ba:^i,  a  false  mocking  tale,  a  gibe.  This  Avord  has  not  been 
retained  in  Welsh,  but  it  is  found  in  the  Armor,  bamein,  to 
deceive,  and  the  Gael,  beum,  a  cut,  a  taunt  or  sarcasm. 

Bawtert,  dfrty,  soiled  with  mud  or  filth.  W.  baw,  dfrt, 
mire ;  budro,  to  make  dirty. 

Berr,  rapidity,  force.  To  run  a  berr,  is  to  run  headlong ; 
a  run-a-berr  leap,  is  a  leap  taken  after  a  quick  run.  W.  bur, 
Adolencc,  rage. 

Bitter-bun  or  Bitter-bump,  the  bittern.  The  Welsh  name 
for  the  bittern  is  adar-y-bwn,  or  bwmp-y-gors.  Bivnip  means 
a  hollow  sound,  and  is  expressive  of  the  peculiar  sound  or  cry, 
the  boom  of  the  bittern. 

BoDiKiN,  a  bodkin,  anciently  a  spear  or  dirk.  "  Od's 
bodikhis,"    by    God's   spears,  an   allusion   to   the   death  of 

*  I  mean  by  this  title  '  dialectic  words  spoken  in  Lancashire,'  whether 
-forming  i)art  of  other  dialects  or  not. 


227 

Christ,  was  formerly  a  common  oath.  W.  bidoy,  a  small 
hanger  or  dirk;  Gael,  biodag  (Ir.  boidigm,  dim.  oibidoy,  dirk. — 
Dr.Whittaker). 

Boggart,  an  apparition,  a  hobgoblin.  W.  bwg  id.  bvjgwth, 
to  thi-eaten,  to  scare ;  Gael,  bochdan,  a  bugbear. 

Boggle,  to  hesitate,  to  be  afraid,  to  do  anything  awkwardly. 
W.  bogelu,  to  affright,  intrans.  to  hide  one's  self  through  fear. 

Bother,  to  stun,  to  perplex.  Corn,  bothar,  deaf;  Gael. 
bothar ;  W.  bijddaru,  to  deafen. 

Braggot,  ale  spiced  and  sweetened.  W.  bragawd  (in 
the  poem  of  Gododin,  a.d.  570-580,  bragmvt),  "a  liquor 
made  anciently  from  the  wort  of  ale  and  mead  fermented 
together." — Dr.  O.  Pughe. 

Brat,  an  apron,  a  cloth.  W.  brat,  a  piece,  a  clout.  Gael. 
brat,  a  mantle,  a  coveruig. 

Brawse.  (W.  Lane),  brambles,  fiirze;  Gael,  preas,  a 
brier,  a  bush;  W.  brwyn,  rushes,  sedge;  brasses*,  dialect  of 
Berri. 

Brawsen,  stuffed  with  food,  gorged.  W.  braisg,  gross, 
thick. 

Bree,  to  fear.    W.  braw,  terror ;  A.-S.  bregean,  to  fr-ighten. 

Brewis,  a  dish  made  of  oat-cakes  soaked  in  broth.  W 
brywes.  Bos  worth,  in  his  A.-S.  Dictionary,  has  brkv,  brewis, 
on  the  authority  of  Somner,  but  the  word  is  certainly  Celtic, 
from  briw,  that  which  is  broken  in  pieces. 

Brodule,  to  assume,  to  boast,  to  swagger.  W.  brolio,  to 
boast,  to  swagger.     Du.  brallen.     Germ,  prahlen. 

Brog,  a  bushy  or  swampy  spot.     W.  brwg,  a  forest,  a  brake. 

Broggin,  fishing  for  eels  with  a  pole,  or  by  thrusting  a 
twig,  furnished  with  hook  and  worm,  into  the  holes  where  the 
eels  lie.  Gael,  brog,  to  spur,  to  goad.  W.  procio,  to  thrust, 
to  push  in. 

Bruit,  to  talk  of,  to  publish;  Bruited,  talked  about.  W.  brut, 
brud,  a  chronicle;  brudio,  to  record,  to  publish;  Yr.  h'uit-f. 

*  '  English  Etymologies,'  by  H.  Wedgwood,  Esq.,  Philol.  Soc.  Trans, 
vol.  iv.  p.  250. 

t  My  antiquarian  readers  will  be  reminded  of  the  Brut  of  Layaraon,  the 
Brut  of  Tysilio,  and  other  ancient  chronicles. 


90« 

BuRLEYMON,  a  pevsoii  appointed  at  courts-lcet,  to  examine 
and  to  determine  about  dis})nted  fences*;  W.  bwr,  a  fence, 
an  cnclosm'c. 

BuKK,  the  floAver  of  the  large  Avatcr-dock^  the  head  of  a 
thistle.  "W.  hdr,  a  bnneli  or  tuft.  Gael,  boi'r,  a  knoh  (as  a 
verb,  to  .swell,  to  grow  big).     A.S.  burre,  the  burdock. 

Buss,  a  kiss.  W.  bus,  the  human  ]i]i;  Gael,  bus,  a  lip,  a 
kiss ;  Lat.  basmm ;  Fr.  baiser. 

Byes,  beasts.  W.  buiv,  kine;  Gael,  bo,  a  cow;  Arm.  bw, 
Gr.  y8ou9 ;  Lat.  bos. 

Cam,  to  make  crooked  or  awry ;  Camm'd,  crooked,  ill-tem- 
pered. W.  cam,  crooked;  camu,  to  bend,  to  curve;  Gael, 
and  Ir.  cam. 

Cannell  Coal,  a  kind  of  coal  that  burns  with  a  bright  flame. 
W.  camvyU,  a  candle,  a  lamp;  canwy,  a  bright  glare,  from 
can,  bright,  white ;  Lat.  canus ;  Ir.  and  Armor,  can. 

Ceckle,  to  retort  impertinently,  to  sj)eak  insolently.  W. 
cecru,  to  wrangle,  to  brawl;  Germ.  keck. 

Cleaw%  a  flood-gate  in  a  w^  ater-course.  W.  clwdd,  a  dyke,  an 
embankment. 

Cleawse,  an  enclosm'c,  a  field,  a  close.  W.  claws,  a  small 
field,  a  yard  or  court;  Gael,  clomsadh  (pr.  and  sometimes 
written  clos).  The  Germ,  klause,  a  cell,  a  narrow  pass,  and 
the  Lat.  claudo,  clausus,  are  probably  from  the  same  root, 
expressing  that  which  is  fenced  off*,  or  enclosed. 

Cob,  to  beat,  to  strike,  to  fling,  also  to  surj)ass.  A  word 
in  very  common  use  in  Lancashire.  That  cobs  aw,  means, 
it  s\irpasses  all,  and  give  o'er  cobbin,  give  up  striking  or 
flinging  at  me ;  W.  cob'io,  to  beat,  to  thump,  to  form  a  top  or 
tuft ;   Gael,  cobh,  victory,  conquest. 

CocK-uoAT,  a  small  boat.  W.  cwch,  a  round  vessel,  a  boat ; 
\x.  coca. 

Cocker,  to  indulge,  to  fondle,  W.  cocru.  (id.) 

*  Among  the  entries    in  the  records  of  the  courts-leet  held  at  Hale, 
near  Warrington,  is  the  follow  nig  : — 

IV  Hen.  V.  Burelamen  |  ^'1^/''  Coldecotes  j jurati  in  terminuni 

L  W  illicnnus  de  1  horneton  J  pra;dictum. 

In  another  entry  the  word  is  spelled  "  Burelagnien." 


229 

Cogs,  the  projecting  parts  of  a  toothed- wheel.  W.  cog,  a 
lump,  a  short  piece  of  wood  ;  cocos,  cogs. 

CoLLEY-WEST.  Whcii  a  Lancashire  man  is  altogether  un- 
successful in  his  schemes,  he  says  that  everything  goes  coUey- 
west  with  him.  This  appears  to  be  a  compound  of  the  W. 
coll,  loss,  damage ;  Gael,  coll,  destruction,  and  the  root  in 
the  W.  givestwng,  to  decline,  to  go  down ;  implying  a  con- 
tinuous loss  by  Avhich  he  is  going  down  to  ruin. 

CoNGEL,  a  stick  or  staff.     W.  cogel,  a  truncheon,  a  cudgel. 

CosTRiL,^  Kestril,  a  small  barrel.  W.  costrel,  a  jar  or 
flagon. 

Cosy,  comfortable,  snug.  W.  cws,  a  state  of  quietude  or 
rest.  ]\Ir.  Wedgwood  refers  to  the  Gael,  coiseag,  a  small 
nook,  a  snug  corner;  coigeasach,  snug,  cosy^. 

Craddy,  Croddy.  'To  set  craddics'  is  a  phrase  among 
Lancashire  school-boys  for  proposing  some  dangerous  leap,  or 
other  feat,  as  a  trial  of  daring  or  dexterity.  W.  crad,  heat,  vi- 
gour; certh,  awful,  dangerous;  certhain,  to  contend.  Gael. 
crodha,  brave,  active;  crodhachd,  bravery,  prowess. 

Crap,  money,  means.  W.  crap,  a  grapple  or  catching ; 
ci'ob,  a  heap.     Gael,  cearbh,  money. 

Cratchinly,  feebly,  weakly.  W.  crach,  scabby,  also  puny, 
petty. 

Creeas,  measles. 

Creawse,  amorous,  lascivious.  These  words  are  both,  I 
think,  from  the  W.  cres,  heating,  inflaming;  cresu,  to  parch, 
to  inflame ;  crest,  scurf. 

Crib,  to  steal,  to  filch  a  small  part  of  anything.  W.  cribo, 
to  comb  off",  to  card. 

Crimmet,  an  obscene  Avord,  and  other  words  of  a  coarse  or 
vile  meaning,  are  of  the  Celtic  stock.  This  circumstance 
shows  very  probably  that  the  words  belonged  to  an  inferior  or 
conquered  race. 

Croghton-belly,  one  who  has  eaten  too  much  fi-uit.  I 
give  this  word  on  the  authority  of  Halliwell.  It  is  probably 
from  the  W.  croth,  what  swells  or  bulges  out,  a  rotundity ; 
croten,  a  plump  little  girl. 

*  Philol.  Proo.  vol.  iv.  p.  252. 


230 

Croo,  a  crib  for  cattle.  W.  criv,  what  tends  to  close  or 
curve  together.     Gael,  era,  a  fold  for  sheep,  a  stall. 

Cuddle,  to  fondle,  to  enilirace,  to  press  to  the  bosom,  to 
lie  closely.     AV.  cudiUo,  to  hide,  to  cover. 

Cuts.  Among  Lancashire  school-boys,  to  draw  '  cuts,'  is  to 
draw  lots.  This  was  usually  done,  in  my  boyhood,  by  draw- 
ing one  of  several  pieces  of  paper,  cut  into  different  lengths. 
The  Avord  may  be  derived  from  the  verb  to  '  cut,'  but  more 
probal)ly  from  the  W.  civtws,  a  lot  *. 

Dad  (W.  Lane),  to  move  a  hea\y  substance  by  turning 
it  on  its  end.     W.  daddro,  a  tm^n  or  twist  (Lewis). 

Dade,  to  hold  a  child  suspended  by  the  arms,  while  learn- 
ing to  walk.  W.  dodi,  to  put,  to  place,  to  set.  The  Sanscrit 
dadh  (poncre,  tencre,  sustentare),  is  much  nearer  the  Lanca- 
shire word  both  in  form  and  meaning.  Another  close  con- 
nexion wath  the  Sanscrit  is  found  in  the  word  "  char,"  which, 
as  a  vcrlj,  means  "  to  go  out  to  work  for  the  day,"  "  to  take 
occasional  jobs."  Sans.  c/i«r,  to  go,  to  do,  to  arrange.  (Bopp. 
Comp.  Gr.  p.  1105,  Eng.  Ed.) 

DossucK,  a  dirty,  slovenly  woman.  W.  dosaivg,  speckled. 
Gael,  dos,  a  tuft,  froth,  scum. 

Dubbin,  a  kind  of  paste  used  by  shoemakers.  W.  dwb, 
mortar,  cement. 

DuNDER-iiEAD,  a  blocklicad,  a  silly  fellow.  W.  dwndro, 
to  prate,  to  babble ;  dwndrwr,  a  prater,  a  tattler. 

Eag-end,  a  remnant,  a  refuse  piece.  W.  ffaig,  the  extre- 
mity or  end  of  a  thing.  This  word  which,  though  not  pecu- 
euliar  to  Lancashire,  is  used  by  all  classes  in  the  county,  is 
an  instance  of  that  curious  connexion  of  words  with  the 
same  meaning,  which  is  always  found  when  different  races 
have  been  blended  together.  Cock-boat  has  been  already 
mentioned.  The  contemptuous  use  of  such  words  as  "  cock," 
"  fag,"  and  others  of  the  same  class,  shows  also  very  clearly 
on  which  side  lay  the  superiority  of  racef-    The  common  word 

*  Philol.  Proc.  vol.  i.  p.  174. 

t  The  same  inference  may  be  drawn  from  the  words,  dapper,  knave, 
boor,  churl,  &c.,  compared  with  then-  Teutonic  relatives.  They  bear  the 
mark  of  the  Norman  scorn  for  the  Saxon  serf. 


231 

"  salt-cellar "   is  an   instance  of  this   kind  of  juxtaposition.  ^ 
Fr.  sellier,  salt-dish. 

FarranTj  decent,  respectable,  worthy.  This  word  is  derived 
by  Mr.  Brockett  from  the  A.S.  fat-an,  to  go,  and  the  meaning 
attached  to  the  word  in  his  Glossary  of  North  Countiy 
Words,  is,  "  equipped  for  a  journey,  fashioned,  shaped."  In 
Lancashii'e  the  word  is  not  used  in  this  sense,  though  the 
meaning  is  e\idently  retained  in  oivd-f arrant,  precocious,  old- 
fashioned.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the  idea  of  behaviour 
or  course  of  life  may  have  been  derived  in  this  instance  from 
the  primaiy  idea  of  motion  or  progress,  as  in  the  common 
Enghsh  "way,"  and  the  Germ.  "  auffuhrung;"  but  I  am 
iuclined  to  prefer  the  Gael,  farranta,  stout,  brave,  generous, 
from/ea/',  a  man.  If  the  A.S.  verb  ''fara7i''  be  preferred  as 
the  root  of  this  word,  it  may  l^e  compared  ^ith  Old  Goth. 
fuari,  aptus,  prosper;  fuara,  behaviour;  Fris.  fere,  usefid, 
healthy ;  and  the  Bavarian  unfuer,  misconduct. 

Fash,  the  tops  of  turnips,  waste,  trouble.  Gael,  fasach, 
stubble ;  fasan,  refuse  of  grain. 

Fattle,  to  trifle  about  business,  to  dangle  after  a  female. 
Perhaps  fr'om  W.  ffattio,  to  strike  lightly,  to  pat*. 

File,  a  cimnmg  person,  generally  used  of  old  persons. 
This  word  has  no  reference,  I  think,  to  the  common  English 
tool,  a  file ;  but  is  connected  "«ith  the  W.  ffiU,  a  writhe,  a 
twist ;  ffillio,  to  writhe  about.  Gael,  fill,  a  fold,  a  plait ; 
fillte,  folded,  plaited,  deceitfid. 

Flasget,  a  shallow  basket.  W.  fflasged,  a  vessel  of  straw 
or  wicker-work,  a  basket,  Gael,  flasg,  id.  In  this  instance, 
as  in  "  bragot,"  we  have  the  stronger  sound  "  t "  for  the 
W.  "d;"  but  as  the  modern  W.  "bragawd"  was  anciently - 
"bragawt,"  we  may  infer  that  Lancashire  has  retained  the 
primitive  somid  of  the  word,  and  that  my  fellow-countymen 
are  in  some  respects  like  the  Irish-English  of  a  former  time, 
"  ipsis  Hibernis  Hiberniores." 

Fog,  grass  left  on  the  ground  unmovrai;  long,  "svithered 
grass.     W.  ffivy,  dry  grass;  ffwgws,  diy  leaves.     Ducange 

*  Old  ^orse,  fitla,  befingera;  DieiF.  s.  x.fetjan. 


232 

has  "  fogagium,"  Avintcr  fodder,  Avhich,  Mr,  Carr  thinks,  does 
not  express  tlie  meaning  of  the  provincial  word  "fog."  He 
is  however  mistaken,  if  he  sujjposes  tliat  they  arc  not  from  the 
same  root.  The  AV.  jfwy  means  ])rimarily  "what  is  dry  or 
Hght,"  and  "  fogagium  "  means  drv  food,  as  hay,  in  opposition 
to  the  fresh  grass.  The  Craven  farmer  has  retained  tlie  pro- 
per meaning  of  the  word,  when  he  says,  "  he  is  boun  to  Joy 
his  cattle,"  that  is,  to  take  them  out  of  the  pastm-e  at  the 
beginning  of  winter,  and  to  feed  them  on  dry  food. 

FooMAKT,  the  pole-eat.     AV.  ffwlbart. 

Frump,  to  sulk,  to  take  offence.  AA".  ffromi,  to  chafe,  to  be 
in  a  pet.  The  Belg.  frumpden,  to  reproach,  to  revile,  offers  a 
probable  parentage  for  this  Avoi-d;  but  the  root  is,  I  think, 
Celtic.  AA'.  ffrom,  fuming,  violent;  ffro,  a  violent  motion  or 
impulse. 

Gam,  Game,  crooked;  as  a  gam  or  game  leg.  AV.  cam, 
crooked. 

Garth,  a  hoop,  the  belly-band  of  a  horse.  AV.  (/ardd  (pr. 
garth),  an  enclosm^e.  The  primary  idea  is  that  of  encircling, 
enclosing,  and  hence  the  Yv.jardin,  Eng.  garden,  Old  Germ, 
gard,  a  town ;  Russ.  gorod,  town ;  and  the  many  forms  of  the 
same  root,  signifying  "  town "  or  "  enclosed  place "  in  the 
Semitic  languages.  From  the  softening  of  the  guttural  comes 
the  Eng.  "  yard,"  an  enclosed  space  near  a  house. 

Gin,  a  machine  for  separating  and  cleansing  the  fibres  of 
cotton.     A^^.  ginio,  to  pluck  wool ;  gwlan  gin,  plucked  wool. 

GiNNEL,  a  narrow  passage,  a  small  channel  formerly  made 
in  the  centre  of  narrow  streets  for  the  passage  of  water. 
Arm.  ganol,  a  channel ;  Corn,  gannel;  Gael,  grinneal,  the  bed 
of  a  river,  a  pool,  a  channel. 

Glur,  the  softest  kind  of  fat,  AV,  gwer,  tallow,  suet, 
Gael,  geir,  id. 

GoLTCH,  to  eat  or  drink  ravenously,  to  be  gluttonous. 
Gael,  gollach,  gluttonous.     AV.  golch,  immersion,  washing. 

GoRBELLY,  one  who  has  a  large  belly  or  paunch,  a  glutton. 
A\^.  gor,  a  particle  signifying  large,  excessive,  as  goradain, 
great  velocity;   goraddo,  to  promise    too  much;   goraddfed, 


^     VTT 


over-mellow,  too  ripe;    and  hoi,  holy,  belly,   primarily,  that  /I 
which  IS  round.  "^ 

Greece,    Gbeese,    a   slight    ascent;    also    stairs,    steps.        ^    i 
W.  gris,  a  step  or  stair. 

Grig.    As  merry  as  a  grig.     This  word  means  the  grey-        ( 
hound ;  A.S.  grig-kund.     It  belongs  to  the  Celtic  languages  ; 
Gael,  gregh,  hound,  probably  this  particular  kind  of  hound ; 
the  Vertagus  of  Martial,  which  was  of  a  Gallic,  i.  e.  Celtic    ,^ 


'<i?^~ 


breed^  y'l^*-^  ^^^ 

Non  sibi,  sed  domino,  venatur  Vertagus  acer.  ^     '  *  - 

Grummil,  small  coal.    Perhaps  from  W.  ^rem^«/,  to  crash ;    />^.'#i^ 
Gael,  greim,  a  bite,  a  morsel. 

Gry,  to  be  in  an  ague-fit.  W,  crynu,  to  shake,  to  quiver ; 
cryn,  shaking,  shivering.     Gael,  crith.  -  ' .  y 

GuLLioN,  a  soft,  worthless  fellow.     W.  gwill^  a  vagabond,   '^-^^^ 
(as  an  adj.  fickle,  apt  to  stray).  "■ "  ^i^-p-^^- 

Gyre,  to  purge.  A  gyred  calf  is  one  purged  by  ha^ing  too 
rich  milk.  W.  gyru,  to  thrust  forward,  intrans.  to  run ; 
Gael,  sgur,  to  scour,  to  piu'ge.  r^' 

Hap,   chance,  fortune;    mayhap,   perhaps.      W.  hap,    id.,       / "    '^ 
hapus,  fortimate,  happy. 

Hared,  an  obit  or  mortuary.     Dr.  Whittaker   (Hist,  of 
Mane.  vol.  i.  p.  359)  is  my  authority  for  the  word.     He  states 
that  in  Angiesea,  the  word  hared  was  used  in  this  sense;  y^"g«=..-.^. 
derived  ^\dthout  doubt  from  the  Lat.  hares,  as  our  O.-Eng.  y^^ 

word,  heriot.  t^;^ 

Hawk,  to  cough,  to  bring  up  phlegm.     W.  hochi,  to  throw         '•*•    ^ 
up  phlegm. 

Healo,  Yealo,  modest,  shy.  W.  gwyl,  modest,  diffident. 
Gael,  eagal,  ail,  fear,  timidity. 

HiG,  a  fit  of  pettish  anger.     W.  ig,  a  sob;  igio,  to  sigh,  to  sob.         /  / 

Hog,  v.,  to  carry  on  the  back;  also,  to  put  potatoes  into  a       '  i i^jb 
hole  or  pit.    These  not  veiy  similar  meanings  find  their  point 
of  union  in  the  W.  hwg,  a  bend,  a  hook,  and  also  a  nook  or    r-   #'?^ 
corner.     The  "hog"  was  the  nook  where  the  potatoes  were 
put  and  covered  over,  and  the  word  was  afterwards  transferred 
to  the  more  convenient  pit. 

s 


234. 

HooANT,  flcsli  swelled  and  hard  from  inflammation.  W.huan, 
the  sun. 

HoppEiij  a  receptacle  for  corn  in  a  mill,  a  basket. 
W.  hopran,  id. 

HowsE,  to  stir  np,  generally  used  of  the  fire.  W.  hoeivi,  to 
render  alert  or  sprightly. 

Huff,  IIuft,  to  treat  scornfully,  to  attack  with  scornful 
reproofs.  W.  vifft,  a  scorn,  a  slight;  ivjftio,  to  push  away 
with  disapprobation,  to  cry  shame.  Mr.  Brockctt  gives  the 
Isl.  yfa,  in'itare,  as  the  origin  of  the  word. 

Hutch,  to  lift  up  the  shoulders  uneasily,  to  move  the 
body  with  an  uneasy  motion.  W.  hicio,  to  snap,  to  catch 
suddenly. 

Imp,  to  deprive  of,  to  rob.  W.  imp,  a  scion,  a  graft; 
impio,  to  engraft.  The  Lancashire  meaning  is  an  amusing 
secondary  sense  of  the  Celtic  word;  taking  a  slip  from  one 
stock  to  graft  on  another  being  a  delicate  expression  for  rob- 
bery. The  Welsh  have  never  used  the  word  in  this  sense. 
Jimp,  neat,  spruce.  W.  r/ioymp,  smart,  trim,  fair. 
Keen,  to  burn.  W.  cynnen,  to  kindle,  to  set  on  fire; 
cynne,  a  fire-blaze. — Pughe. 

Kibble  hounds.  Beagles  were  formerly  so  called  in  Lan- 
cashire. Dr.  Whittakcr,  who  is  my  authority  for  the  word, 
suggests  the  Ir.  cuib,  greyhound,  as  its  som'ce. 

Kipple,  to  lift  a  weight  off  the  ground  to  the  shoulders 
without  help  or  stoppage.  W.  cip,  a  sudden  pull  or  effort; 
cipio,  to  snatch,  to  take  off  suddenly.  The  author  of  the 
Cheshire  Glossary,  has  the  plirase  Kibbo  Kift,  and  explains 
that  it  means  standing  in  a  half-bushel,  and  lifting  from  the 
ground  to  the  shoulders  a  load  of  w  heat.  "  Why,"  he  adds, 
"  I  do  not  know ;  but  I  have  some  idea  of  having  seen  some- 
where the  word  kibbo  or  kibbor  used  in  the  sense  oi  strong*. 
Shoidd  it  not  rather  be  kibbow  gift?  and  the  feat  above 
mentioned  will  be  a  gift  of  strength."  This  explanation, 
which  is  almost  as  happy  as  the  derivation  of  the  English 
surname  Peel  (a  rude  town  or  fortress),  from  the  Fr.  pelle,  a 

*  Perhaps  the  Hebrew  gibbor. 


235 

baker^s  shovel,  is  not  an  unfair  specimen  of  the  guesses  in 
etymology,  made  by  writers  wholly  ignorant  of  the  Celtic  class 
of  languages.  The  Welsh  name  for  a  half-bushel  measure,  the 
traditional  foot-place  for  this  effort  of  strength,  is  cibyn,  and 
cip  means  a  sudden  effort.  The  cibyn  cip,  or,  as  our  Cheshire 
neighbours  have  corrupted  it,  the  kibbo  kift  ("  c  "  is  always 
hard  in  Welsh),  is  simply  the  half-lDushel  feat. 

Lake,  to  idle,  to  jilay  truant.  Perhaps  from  W.  Uechu,  to 
skulk,  to  lie  hid;  but  more  probably  fi'om  A.-S.  lac,  play, 
sport;   Goth,  laiks. 

LiTfiE,  V.  to  thicken  broth  or  soup  with  meal.  W.  llith, 
meal  soaked  in  water.     Gael,  leite,  water-gruel. 

LoBB,  a  hea\y,  clumsy  fellow.  W.  Hob,  a  heavy  lump,  a 
blockhead.  Gael,  liohar,  a  lubberly  or  awkward  fellow*. 
The  word,  when  used  as  a  verb,  means,  to  run  with  a  long 
step ;  perhaps  from  the  W.  llofan,  what  branches  or  shoots 
out. 

Lurch,  to  lurk,  to  lie  hid.  W.  llerchio,  to  loiter  about,  to 
lurk,  derived  by  Dr.  O.  Pughe  from  llerch,  a  fit  of  loitering  or 
lurking,  and  this  from  ller,  what  is  stretched  or  drawn  out. 

LuTCH,  to  pulsate  strongly  and  painfully,  as  an  angry 
tumour.  W.  lluchio,  to  fling,  to  throw  \iolently,  to  cast  snow 
into  drifts.  Gael,  luath,  luathaich,  to  hasten,  to  mill  cloth  by 
rapid  and  violent  beating. 

LuvER,  an  open  chimney,  originally  a  hole  in  the  centre  of 
the  roof  for  the  escape  of  smoke.  W.  Iwfer,  pr.  loover,  a 
chimney,  Lewis.  This  word  is  not  in  Dr.  O.  Pughe's  Dic- 
tionary f. 

*  The  Dutch  have  lobhes  in  the  same  sense,  and  the  root  may  belong  to 
both  classes  of  languages ;  but  the  root-idea — heaviness — is  found  only,  I 
think,  in  the  Celtic. 

t  In  an  article  in  the  Quarterly  Review,  vol.  Iv.  written,  I  believe,  by 
the  late  Mr.  Garnett,  this  word  is  said  to  be  "  plainly  the  Icelandic  liori 
(pronounced  liowri  or  lioorij;  Norwegian,  liore ;  West  Gothland,  liura; 
described  in  the  statistical  accounts  of  those  countries  as  a  sort  of  cupola 
with  a  trap-door,  serving  the  twofold  purpose  of  a  chimney  and  a  sky- 
light." Perhaps,  however,  the  Gael,  luidheir  (dh  in  Gael,  is  either  silent, 
or,  before  a  vowel,  is  \n\  nearly  as  the  Eng.  y),  a  chimney,  a  vent,  a  flue, 
may  be  the  true  etymon.     W.  llwyf,  a  frame,  a  loft. 

s2 


236 

As  my  design  is  not  to  give  a  complete  list  of  all  the  Celtic 
words  in  the  Lancashire  dialect,  bnt  only  to  show  how  large 
and  important  this  element  is ;  and  since,  moreover,  to  discuss 
the  yy\\o\e,  per  seriem  literarum,  would  extend  this  paper  to  an 
immoderate  length,  I  will  only  add  a  few  more  instances  to 
complete  the  proof. 

^IiNT,  a  large  sum,  especially  of  money.  This  word  may 
he  fi'om  the  common  Eng.  word  "  mint,"  implying  a  large 
exchequer,  hut  more  probably  from  the  W.  maint,  a  large 
quantity;  Fr.  maint. 

MoG,  to  move  off,  to  depart  quickly.  Scot,  mudge. 
W.  mwch,  swift,  quick ;  mwcMo,  to  hasten,  to  be  quick. 

Muggy,  damp,  dirty,  used  of  the  weather.  W.  niwci,  bog, 
from  mwg,  smoke ;  or  it  may  be  from  the  Old  Norse  mykia, 
mollire,  stereorare,  myki,  fimus,  Du.  muyk,  soft,  [Dieffenbach, 
Worterbuch  dcr  Gothischcn  Sprache,  s.  v.  muks,']  and  related 
to  "muck,"  "mucky*." 

MuLLocH,  dirt,  rubbish.  W.  mwlwcJi,  refuse,  sweepings. 
Gael,  niulach,  dirt,  a  puddle. 

Mychin,  Michin,  out  of  humour,  pining,  dissatisfied. 
W.  mic,  spite,  pique ;  micio,  to  be  piqued. 

Natter,  to  gnaw,  to  nibble.     W.  naddu,  to  hew,  to  chip. 

Oandurth,  afternoon.  W.  anterth,  the  forenoon,  morning, 
according  to  Dr.  O.  Pughe,  from  an  and  tarth,  literally,  with- 
out vapour,  the  time  of  the  day  when  the  vapours  are  dis- 
sipated.    Armor,  enderv,  afternoonf.  (Philol.  Proc.  i.  173.) 

*  The  W.  migen,  a  boggy  or  swampy  place,  seems  to  be  related  to  these 
words. 

t  In  the  Anturs  of  Arther,  the  expression,  "  between  imdur  and  none" 
occurs,  and  the  editor,  in  explanation,  quotes  from  the  Quarterly  Review, 
vol.  Ivi. :  "  The  true  form  is  undorn  or  under,  i.  e.  unter,  inter,  between, 
and  means  the  intervening  period ;  it  therefore  sometimes  denotes  a  part 
of  the  forenoon,  or  meal  taken  at  that  time,  and  sometimes  a  period  be- 
tween noon  and  sunset.  Ulphilas  translates  npiurov,  Luc.  xiv.  12,  by 
undornimat ;  Lane,  oandurth."  I  think,  however,  that  "  oandurth "  is 
Celtic,  from  the  Old  Gael,  indir,  now  eadar,  between,  connected  with  the 
Goth,  undorn  and  the  Sans,  antur.  In  Gaelic,  eadarthrath,  lit.  between- 
time,  is  the  equivalent  of  the  Lane.  "  oandurth  "  and  "  yeandurth,"  fore- 
noon ;  this  w  ould  be  formerly,  indir-thrath,  and  by  contraction,  indirth,  of 
which  the  W.  anfet-th  is  perhaps  only  another  form. 


■/: 


^ 


V     Orril,  mad,  frenzied.     W.  rhull,  apt  to  hreak  out,  rash, 
hasty. 

Pantle,  (W.  Lane),  a  snare  for  snipes.  W.  pant,  what 
involves  or  hems  m.     Gael,  and  Ir.  peinteal,  a  snare. 

Pash,  a  sudden  gush  of  water  or  tears.  W.  pasio,  to  cause 
an  exit,  to  expel,  fi'om  pas,  what  expels,  an  exit. 

Peddle,  Piddle,  to  do  anything  slightly,  to  trifle,  to  work 
ineffectually.  W.  pid,  what  tapers  to  a  point;  pitio,  very 
small,  petty. 

Pee,  to  look  with  one  eye,  to  squint.  W.  py,  what  is  in- 
volved or  inversed  or  turned  imvards.  Mr.  Brockett  refers  to 
a  ludicrous  anecdote  of  a  person  called  Peed  Dalton  of  Shap, 
that  is,  the  one-eyed  Dalton. 

Peigh,  to  cough.     W.pych,  a  cough. — Lewis. 
J" Pelt,  to  fling,  to  throw  at.     Also  to  move  or  rmi  quickly. 
\Pelter,  to  batter,  to  beat. 

These  words  are  from  the  W.  pel,  a  ball ;  peled,  a  ball,  bul- 
let ;  Eng.  pellet ;  peJre,  beating  of  a  ball  to  and  fro ;  peledu, 
to  throw  a  ball.  • 

Pick,  to  push  sharply,  to  fling. 

Picking-stick,    the   stick  by  which  weavers   throw  their 

shuttles.     W.  picio,  to  dart,  to  fling. 

As  high  as  I  could  pick  my  lance. 

Coriolanus,  act  i.  sc.  1. 

Pilder,  Pilther,  to  wither,  to  shrivel,  to  fade  away.     W. 
pydru,  to  rot,  to   putrefy;  pallder,  failure,    abortiveness,  a        ^ 
perished  state. 

Ping,  a  finch.    W.  pine,  id.    The  W.  word  "  pine"  means      C^^ 
also  "  brisk,"  "  fine ;"  and,  as  a  subst.,  is  probably  applied 
to  the  bird  from  this  sense ;  all  appellatives  being  originally 
expressive  of  form  or  quality. 

PowsE,  Powsement,  dirt,  reftise,  oflFal.  They  are  also  very 
expressive  terms  of  reproach,  implying  a  high  degree  of  con- 
tempt. W.  2^ws,  what  is  expelled.  This  is  very  probably  the 
true  etymon  of  the  Lancashire  "  powse"  and  "  powsement," 
though  the  W.  word  does  not  express  foulness :  it  means 
simply  "  that  which  is  violently  expelled  or  sent  forth,"  and, 
in  a  secondary  sense, "  a  violent  utterance,  a  loud  outciy." 


(k^ 


.-•!t    •» 


238 

PuNSE,   to  kick.     W.   paiven,   a    paNV   or  hoof;   pawns,   a 
I ,      bounce,  a  l)low,  a  thump. 

Purr,  id.     Gael,  purr,  to  push,  to  thrust,  to  butt  with  the 
head.  ^" 

Reawt,  a  way,  a  route.     W.  rhaivd,  a  way  or  course,  a 
'    /  race,  a  rout;  rhawden,  a  footstep,  from  rlia,  Avliat  forces  or 

*  ^jfrkfi*-''  drives  onwards.  1  think  it  more  probable  that  the  Lanca- 
shire peasantry  have  derived  this  word  from  their  Celtic  fore- 
i^t-t t'  fathers  than  from  the  Fr.  route.  The  W.  rhaivd  enables  us 
to  connect  together  the  words  "  rout"  and  "  route,"  the  radi- 
cal signification  being  an  onward  and  rapid  movement. 
'  Reeak,  to  scream,  to  shriek.  W.  rhech,  a  report,  a  loud 
noise. 

Rick,  to  make  a  noise,  to  jingle,  to  scold.  W.  rhoch,  a 
gi'unt,  a  groan ;  rhochi,  to  grunt,  to  growl. 

RiGGOT,  a  channel  or  gutter.  W.  I'hig,  a  groove ;  rldgol,  a 
furrow,  a  drain. 

Rock,  Rocket,  a  frock.  I  give  these  words  on  the  au- 
thority of  Dr.  Whittaker,  He  says  they  were  used,  in  his 
day,  in  the  neighboiu'hood  of  Manchester.  W.  rlmch,  a  coat ; 
Corn,  rochet,  a  shirt;  Fr.  rochet;  A.-S.  roc;  Germ.  rock. 
The  Lancashire  words  may  very  probaljly  be  assigned  to  a 
Teutonic  origin ;  but  the  fact  that  the  Fr.  rochet  (Corn,  rochet) 
must  be  assigned  to  a  Celtic  som'ce,  and  the  existence  of  the 
form  "  rocket,"  not  fovmd,  I  think,  in  the  Teutonic  languages, 
may  favour  the  assumption  that  they  were  in  use  before  the 
time  of  the  Saxon  invasion. 

Safe,  sm-e,  certain  (often  pron.  sef).  "  He's  sef  to  be 
hanged,"  applied  to  a  good-for-nothing  fellow,  means  that 
such  a  fate  will  certainly  be  his.     W.  sef,  certain,  truly .'^ 

Scut,  the  tail  of  a  hare.     W.  cwt,  ysyivt,  a  tail  or  rump. 

Slat,  to  spill,  to  dash  water  about.  W.  yslotiun,  to  paddle, 
to  dabble. 

Sow,  the  head.     W.  siol,  the  top  of  the  head,  the  skull. 

*  The  glossaries  of  Messrs.  Brockett  and  Carr  have  shown  that  much 
light  may  be  thrown  on  obscure  passages  of  Shakspere  from  provincial 
words  and  phrases.  The  Lane,  use  of  the  word  "  safe"  will  explain  a  pas- 
sage in  Macbeth  that  has  hitherto  perplexed  all  the  editors  of  our  great 


239 

Formed  as  the  name  of  a  high  hill  between  Cheshire  and 
Staffordshire,  Mow  Cop,  formerly  written  Moel  Cop.  W. 
moel,  a  bare  conical  hill. 

Spree,  a  wild,  mischievous  frolic.  Mr.  Brockett  suggests 
the  Fr.  esprit,  but  I  agree  with  the  late  Mr.  Garnett^,  that  it 
is  from  the  W.  asbri,  trick,  mischief;  also  fancy,  invention. 

Tackle,  v.  to  equip,  to  set  in  order,  to  take  a  person  in 
hand  wdth  the  intent  to  subdue  him,  or  set  him  in  order.  W. 
tad,  an  instrument,  a  tool ;  taclu,  to  accoutre,  to  dress,  to 
repair  or  set  to  rights. 

Tantrum,  a  fit  of  passionate  excitement.  To  be  in  his 
tantrums,  means,  in  Lancashire,  to  be  in  a  flighty  passionate 
mood.    W.  tant,  a  stretch,  a  sudden  start,  jr  gust  ofpassion,or  ^ 

whim.  C^^^^^^^JC^^O^     Lyz^-^-^^  ^^J*--""^     ^"^^^^ 

Ted,   to   spread   abroad   new-mown  hay.     W.  teddu,   to     ^-^-^^^ 
spread  out ;  tedd,  a  spreading  out,  a  range,  a  row. 

Treddles,  Traddles,  the  part  of  the  loom  which  is  moved 
by  the  feet.     W.  troedlen,  id.  from  troed,  foot. 

Trest,  a  strong  bench,  a  butcher's  block.  W.  trawst,  a 
rafter.  The  similar  Avord  "  tressel"  or  "  trestle^'  is  from  the 
W,  trestl,  a  stretcher,  a  frame ;  root,  tres,  what  is  on  the 
stretch. 

Turnil,  a  long  oval  tub  used  for  scalding  pigs.  W.  twrnel, 
a  tub  or  vat ;  fi'om  twrn,  what  is  round,  a  turn. 

Whop,  s.  a  smart,  sharp  blow;  v.  to  beat.  W.  wab,  a 
slap,  a  blow ;  wabio,  to  cuff,  to  beat. 

WiTHERiN,  large,  powerful.     W.  uther,  awful,  terrible. 

Wyzles,  the  stalks  of  the  potatoe-plant.  W.  gwydd,  small 
trees,  shrubs. 

There  are  some  words  in  the  Lancashire  dialect  which  may 

dramatist.  (See  Mr.  Knight's  Ed.  of  Shakspere.)  Macbeth  says,  with  hypo- 
critical homage,  to  Duncan : 

"  Our  duties 
Are  to  your  throne  and  state,  children  and  servants. 
Which  do  but  what  they  should,  by  doing  everything 
8afe  (that  is,  certainly,  truly,)  toward  your  love  and  honour." 

Macbeth,  act  i.  sc.  4. 
*  Philol.  Proc.  vol.  i.  p.  \1\S. 


240 

be  equally  referred  to  tlie  Welsh  or  the  Anglo-Saxon.  A  few 
examples  have  already  been  given  of  this  kind.  In  some  in- 
stances the  root  is  common  to  almost  all  the  languages  of  the 
Indo-European  class;  and  m  others,  it  would  seem  to  have 
been  derived  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  fi-om  one  of  the  branches  of 
the  Celtic  stock.  There  is,  undoul)tedly,  a  Celtic  as  well  as  a 
Danish  element  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  language,  as  it  has  come 
down  to  us;  and  the  proof  of  this  would  confirm  Mr. 
Kemblc's  remark,  that  there  was  probably  more  intercourse 
between  the  Anglo-Saxons  and  some  of  the  conquered  tribes 
than  is  usually  supposed.^ 

I  subjoin  a  few  additional  examples  of  the  kind  referred 
to:— 

Berm,  Barm,  yeast.  W.  burym  ;  Gael,  beirm  ;  A.-S. 
beorma ;  Germ,  berme;  Dan.  bcerme.  In  W.  we  have  J»eri<?j^ 
boiling,  seething;  berwi,  to  boil,  to  bubble;  and  this  is  the 
origin,  probably,  of  the  Eng.  "  brew^^  and  "  barm.^'  These 
arc  connected  ~idso— with  the  Gael,  breo,  fire,  flame,  which 
brings  us  into  contact  with  almost  every  language  of  Europe. 
(See  Dieffenbach,  Wort,  der  Goth.  Sprache,  s.  v.  Brinnan.) 

Cop,  a  reel  of  spun  yarn,  formerly  a  ball  of  spiui  tlu'cad. 
W.  copa,  cop,  top,  summit,  head,  tuft  or  crest;  Gael,  ceap, 
Armor,  cab,  A.-S.  copp.  Germ,  kopf,  Old  Fris.  kop,  Sans. 
kapdla,  Gr.  Ke^aXrj,  Gat.  caput.  In  all  these  the  radical  idea 
is  "  top  "  or  "  summit,"  and  thence  "  head."  It  is  preserved 
in  the  word  "  coping-stone,"  and  m  the  Lancashire  "  cob," 
to  siu-pass,  to  beat.  The  present  Lancashire  sense  of  the 
word  is  probably  drawn  from  the  romid  balls  of  tliread  that 
Mere  formerly  made ;  the  name  of  which  is  retained,  though 
the  modern  ''  cop  "  is  of  a  long,  oval  shape. 

*  There  is,  beyond  doubt,  a  derived  Celtic  element  in  the  Anglo-Saxon, 
but  the  investigation  of  this  subject  will  require  much  caution,  and  an  ex- 
tensive acquaintance  with  both  these  classes  of  languages ;  for,  though  the 
Teutonic  and  the  Celtic  ditfer  widely  in  their  development,  they  have  radically 
a  close  relationship.  Dieffenbach's  elaborate  "  Worterbuch  der  Gothiselien 
Sprache,"  offers  decisive  testimony  on  this  point.  See  also  Radlof 's  "  Neue 
Untersuchungen  des  Keltenthumes,  zur  Aufhellung  der  Urgeschichte  der 
Teutschen."  Borm.  1822.  (Prichard,  Researches,  &c.,  vol.  iii.  p.  136  note.) 


241 

Cark,  v.  to  be  careful  or  anxious;  s.  care,  anxiety.  VI. 
care  (id.),  carcus,  solicitous,  anxious;  Gael,  car,  twisting, 
bending,  care,  carach,  deceitful,  cunning;  Germ,  and  Sw. 
karg  (tenax,  avarus) ;  Old  Norse  kargr  (tenax,  contumax)  ; 
Old  Germ,  karag  (lugubris),  kara  (passio,  poenitentia,  la- 
mentum)"^;  Sans,  kcird  (moeror,  aerumna),  Pers.  id.,  Armen. 
kari,  karikh  (moeror,  Eerumna,  penuria).  The  Gaelic  gives  the 
primary  idea  of  the  root,  that  of  "  bending,"  "  twisting," 
from  which  have  sprung  the  secondary  meanings  of  "  care," 
"  carefulness,"  "  poverty,"  "  deceit,"  under  which  forms  the 
root  is  found  in  almost  all  languages.  I  think  the  word  has 
been  derived  in  Lancashire  from  the  Cymric  race,  though 
Bosworth  has  A.-S.  care  (care),  on  the  authority  of  Somner. 

Carl,  a  clown,  a  rustic  fellow.  Probably  from  the  same 
root  as  Cark,  from  the  secondary  meaning,  "  labour."  W. 
carl,  a  clown,  a  covetous  man;  A.-S.  ceorl,  Germ,  kerl,  Old 
Du.  caerl,  Modern  Du.  karel,  kerel.  Old  Fris.  tserl.  The 
Lancashire  form  of  the  word  is  nearer  the  W.  than  the  A.-S. 
ceorl. 

Drab,  a  prostitute,  a  \ile,  dirty  woman.  Draff,  grains  of 
malt  after  the  process  of  brewing.  I  have  joined  these  two 
words  together,  as  they  belong  to  the  same  root.  Gael,  drab, 
a  spot  or  stain,  drabag,  a  dirty  female,  a  slattern,  drabh, 
refuse,  draff;  Sw.  draf,  Du.  draff  {fxx).  A.-S.  drabbe,  dregs, 
lees.  The  origin  of  these  words,  with  regard  to  Lancasliire, 
is  most  probably  Teutonic. 

Gablock,  an  iron  bar,  a  gavelock.  W.  gaflaeh;  A.-S.  ga- 
veloc,  a  javelin.  This  word  is  most  probably  Celtic.  W.  gafl, 
a  fork  or  angle ;  gaf,  a  reaching  out,  or  divaricating.  The 
gavelock  appears  to  have  been  a  kind  of  bill,  a  lance  with  a 
curved  barb.  Bosworth  has  A.-S.  gafl  as,  forks,  a  gallows,  on 
the  authority  of  Somner. 

Riddle,  a  coarse  sieve.  W.  rhidyll,  a  sieve,  fi'om  rhid, 
what  drains  or  oozes  out;  A.-S.  liriddel.  Bosworth  has  this 
word  in  his  A.-S.  Dictionary,  on  the  authority  of  Somner. 

*  The  origin  of  the  Lancashire  term,  '  Care  Sunday,'  the  Sunday 
before  Pahn  Sunday,  from  the  penitential  rites  formerly  practised  at  that 
time. 


242 

It  belongs  to  the  Celtic  class  of  languages.  Gael,  and  Ir., 
rideal. 

Rhute,  passion,  a  paroxysm  of  anger.  W.  rhuthr,  a  sudden 
gust  or  rushing,  an  assault  or  onset,  from  rhuth,  a  breaking  out, 
anish;  Gael,  ruadhar,  digging,  stirring  T;p,  an  onset;  A.-S. 
hruth,  commotion,  raging.  [Bosworth,  again  on  the  authority 
of  Somner.]  It  belongs  to  the  Celtic  element  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon,  for  the  root  is  found  only  in  the  former  class. 

Wa.aiuli!:,  to  stagger  from  weakness,  to  move  the  body  to 
and  iro.  IVanibhj,  faintly,  weakly.  W.  givamrnalu,  to  waver, 
to  wamble;  Dan.  vamle,  to  ramble,  also  to  feel  squeamish 
or  sickly ;  North  Fris.  wommelen. 

It  is  evident,  from  these  instances  of  Celtic  words,  still 
existing  in  Laneashu'c,  that  a  considerable  popvdation  of  this 
race  must  have  remained  in  the  county  after  it  had  become 
subject  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  rule.  On  no  other  supposition 
can  the  fact  be  accounted  for,  since  there  has  been  little  in- 
tercourse between  Wales  and  the  lands  north  of  the  Mersey, 
until  a  very  recent  period;  and  the  words  are  of  a  kind  not 
usually  borrowed  from  a  neighbouring  country.  We  may 
assume  then,  with  certainty,  that  the  assertion  so  often  made 
both  by  historians  and  philologists,  that  the  Celtic  race  in 
England  Avas  either  wholly  destroyed  or  expelled  by  their 
Saxon  conquerors,  is  untrue ;  at  least,  as  far  as  the  county  of 
Lancaster  is  concerned  ■^.  History  does  not  oifer  a  decisive 
testimony  on  the  subject,  but  the  language  of  the  Lancashire 
peasantry  gives  imexceptionable  and  sufficient  evidence  by 
which  we  may  determine  the  question.  And  this  evidence 
proves,  beyond  doubt,  that  a  large  Celtic  element  is  one  of 
the  constituents  of  the  race  by  whose  activity  and  enteri)risc 
the  wealth  and  the  power  of  England  have  been  raised  to  so 
marvellous  a  height. 

It  is  not  easy  to  form  even  an  approximate  estimate  of  the 
ratio  which  this  element  bears  to  the  rest ;  but  from  an  ex- 
tensive glossaiy  of  the  dialect  now  in  my  possession,  I  infer 
that  about  one-sixth  part  of  the  dialectic  words  may  be  traced 

*  See  note  (1)  at  the  end. 


243 

directly  to  a  Celtic  source ;  and  since  the  circumstances 
affecting  the  language  of  the  county  would  all  tend  to 
strengthen  the  Anglo-Saxon  element,  and  proportionately  to 
weaken  the  Celtic,  it  is  not  an  extravagant  assumption  that 
one-fom^th  of  the  population,  at  the  time  when  the  Saxon 
authority  was  established,  had  derived  its  origin  from  Celtic 
ancestors'^.  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  mental  charac- 
teristics of  the  race  favour  this  assumption.  All  deductions 
A\ath  regard  to  distinct  races,  drawn  from  such  considerations, 
requii-e,  no  doubt,  a  cautious  examination  of  the  subject,  and 
some  marked  peculiarities  in  the  compared  races.  It  is,  how- 
ever, undoubtedly  true  that  some  well-defined  characteristics 
have  belonged  to  every  distinct  family  of  the  human  race,  and 
those  of  the  Celtic  tribes  have  been  described  in  the  same 
terms  by  all  who  have  Avritten  on  the  subject,  from  Jidius 
Csesar  and  Strabo  to  the  ethnologists  of  our  own  day.  And 
who  that  knows  thoroughly  the  Lancashire  people — their  love 
of  poetry  and  music — their  keen  relish  for  fun  and  frolic — 
their  creative  ingenuity — their  restless  activity  of  mind  and 
body — their  occasional  turbulence — their  strong  passion  for 
liberty,  sometimes  degenerating  into  an  impatience  of  just 
authority — will  fail  to  admit  that  to  the  stubborn  perse- 
verance and  self-reliance  of  the  Teutonic  stock  have  been 
added  some  qualities  that  belong  to  a  more  excitable  and 
mercurial  race  ? 

If  we  examine  the  Celtic  portion  of  the  Lancashii'e  dialect, 
to  detennine  the  amount  of  information  it  may  give  on  the 
social  position,  or  the  habits  and  acquirements  of  the  ab- 
original race,  it  will  appear  that  some  light  is  thrown  on  these 
subjects  by  the  words  that  have  come  down  to  us.  It  has 
been  already  mentioned  that  many  low,  burlesque  or  obscene 
words  can  be  traced  to  a  Celtic  source,  and  this  circumstance, 
together  Avith  the  fact  that  no  Avords  connected  Avith  laAv,  or 
government,  or  the  luxuries  of  life,  belong  to  this  class,  is 
distinct  CAddence  that  the  Celtic  race  Avas  held  in  a  state  of 
dependence  or  inferiority.     The  use  of  such  Avords  as  tedding, 

*  This  must  be  luulerstood  to  refer  chietlv  to  the  country  south  of  the 
Ribble. 


2U 

garth,  hippie,  pigijin,  tackle,  and  the  carter's  cry  to  his  liorse, 
wo,  w'oa  (W.  ivo,  stop),  would  lead  also  to  the  assumption  that 
the  race  to  Avliich  they  belonged  occupied  the  position  of 
servants.  It  is  also  within  the  limits  of  a  legitimate  inference, 
that  the  abmidance  of  such  words  as  express  violent  passion, 
or  an  impetuous  spirit  (as  orril,  rJiute,  hig,  tantrum,  rampage, 
reeak,  berr,  spree,  &c.),  and  the  words  most  frequently  used 
for  supernatm-al  appearances  (as  boggart,  bogle,  hobgoblin), 
arc  facts  indicative  of  the  excitable  and  su})erstitious  cha- 
racter of  the  race.  The  terms  connected  with  hunting,  such 
as  kibble,  scut,  like  the  Shaksperian  brach,  and  the  Latin  ver- 
tagus,  are  signs  of  that  fondness  for  the  chase  which  we 
know  was  common  to  all  the  Celtic  tribes;  and  the  Avord 
braggot  remains  to  show  that  they  were  able  to  make  an 
intoxicating  liquor  from  barley. 

Of  their  skill  m  the  arts  of  life,  we  may  infer  from  the 
words  cleaw,  hopyper,  goyt,  miln  (equally  Celtic  and  Anglo- 
Saxon),  that  they  knew  how  to  construct  water-mills ;  which, 
whether  derived  from  the  Romans,  or  of  indigenous  origin, 
we  know,  from  other  sources,  were  in  use  among  the  Britons 
before  the  Saxon  invasion.  The  words  basket,  fiasget ;  crock, 
costril,  piggin ;  treddles,  gin,  and  other  terms  connected  with 
weaving,  will  show  that  they  knew  how  to  form  articles  of 
earthenware  and  wooden  vessels,  and  also  that  they  had  looms 
for  the  weaving  of  woollen  stuffs.  There  is  no  evidence  in 
the  Lancashire  dialect  that  they  were  skilled  in  the  use  of  the 
bow,  but  the  words  gavlock,  pikel  (originally  a  dart  or  javelin, 
from picio,  to  dart  or  fling),  and  probably  bill,  though  also  an 
A.-S.  word  (W.  bilan,  a  lance  or  pike,  bwyell,  an  axe;  Gael. 
biail,  axe),  and  the  Norman  glaive,  from  the  Celtic  element 
of  the  French  language  (W.  glaif,  a  sword,  properly  a  crooked 
sword  or  scimitar),  are  proofs  that  they  were  familiar  with 
the  use  of  warlike  weapons,  and  with  the  arts  of  smelting  and 
forging  iron  ore.  The  Lane,  eyurn  (iron)  is  an  exact  counter- 
part of  the  W.  haiarn.  The  Teutonic  names  for  the  imple- 
ments used  in  agriculture  may  show  that  the  Anglo-Saxon 
was  a  better  or  more  systematic  farmer  than  the  Celt ;  but 
the  existence  of  such  words  as  byes,  croo,  garth,  keffyl  (horse. 


245 

in  the  adjoining  part  of  the  county  of  York),  and  perhaps  the 
word  bull  also  (W.  bwla,  not  in  the  A.-S.*,  though  in  the 
Germ,  bulle),  may  add  some  slight  evidence  of  the  correctness 
of  Caesar's  accomit  of  the  ancient  Britons :  "  Their  houses  are 
very  numerous,  and  their  cattle  are  in  great  numberst-"  The 
Mord  marl,  derived  from  a  W.  root  signifying  marrow,  a  soft 
unctuous  substance,  together  with  the  words  lithe  (to  soak 
meal  in  water ;  W.  Uith,  soaked  meal)  and  braggot,  are  proofs 
that  they  were  not  unskilled  in  the  art  of  agriculture ;  as  the 
words  bard  and  crowd  (a  fiddle),  which  these  ancient  tribes 
have  bequeathed  to  our  language,  attest  their  skill  in  poetry 
and  music. 


The  Celtic  element  of  the  Lancashire  dialect  haA-ing 
been  examined,  there  remain  for  consideration  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  and  Scandinavian  elements,  and  the  slight  infusion 
of  Norman- French  which  it  presents.  The  largest  element 
is  the  Anglo-Saxon,  as  in  our  classical  or  standard  English; 
but  the  Scandina\dan,  represented  either  by  the  modem 
Danish  or  the  Old  Norse,  enters  largely  into  its  composition, 
— more  extensively,  in  fact,  than  in  common  English — while 
the  Norman-Fi'ench  has  contributed  only  a  few  words  of 
little  importance. 

The  Anglo-Saxon,  as  the  most  important  element  of  the  three, 
may  properly  come  first  under  consideration.  But  here  a  difii- 
culty  presents  itself,  in  attempting  to  trace  the  diff'erent  tribes 
or  nations  that  have  peopled  the  county.  It  is  easy  to  connect 
certain  pro\incial  words  with  their  Anglo-Saxon  predecessors, 
and  if  it  were  proposed  to  show  merely  that  a  majority  of  the 
words  have  a  Teutonic  or  German  base,  and  that  therefore 
the  bulk  of  the  people  came  originally  from  Germany,  this 
would  be  enough  for  the  pm-pose.  But  if  we  ask  from  what 
particular  tribes  of  the  numerous  hordes  that  peopled  Ger- 
many in  the  fifth  or  sixth  centmy,  the  population  has  sprmig, 
we  must  attempt  to  determine  the  separate  parts  of  the  com- 
pound Anglo-Saxon  race  and  compare  the  local  names  and 

*  Bosworth,  on  the  authority  of  Lve,  has  bulluca,  a  calf,  a  young  bull, 
t  De  Bello  Gall.  lib.  v.  c.  12. 


24G 

dialectic  words  of  tlic  county  with  words  l)('lonf2^inf>;  to  these 
separate  divisions.  Otherwise  we  shall  have  only  a  vague 
idea  of  an  inidcfnied  (Jcrnian  orifijin,  or  must  accept  such 
f!;encral  assertions  as  that  of  Bede,  that  the  North  of  Enjijland, 
including  Lancashire,  was  peopled  by  the  Angles, — and  sup- 
pose the  Saxon  element  to  have  penetrated  exclusively  the 
western,  and  part  of  the  midland  counties.  But  is  this  sup- 
position true  with  regard  to  Lancashu'c  ?  We  have  no  means 
of  answering  this  question  from  any  historical  records  of  the 
eoimty;  the  notices  of  it  contained  in  Bedels  Ecclesiastical 
Historv  or  the  Saxon  Chronicle  arc  of  the  most  meagre  kind. 
A  casual  notice  of  a  battle  at  Whallcy  or  Winwick,  or  an 
accidental  allusion  to  the  fact  that  Edward,  the  Saxon  king, 
while  occupying  the  town  of  Thelwall  in  Cheshire,  "com- 
manded another  force  also  of  Mercians,  to  take  possession  of 
Manchester  in  Nortlmmbria,  and  repair  and  man  if^,"  is 
almost  the  whole  of  the  information  wliicli  history  has  given 
of  the  comity  from  the  fifth  to  the  thirteenth  century.  The 
riches  that  lay  beneath  its  wUd  moorlands  were  yet  unknoAvn ; 
its  ports  were  not  convenient  either  for  the  Saxon  or  the  Danish 
maraiuler,  or  for  the  Norman  baron ;  it  was  not  an  object  of 
ambition  as  the  more-frequented  south ;  the  people  were  rude ; 
a  great  part  of  the  soil  was  either  barren  heath  or  swampy 
lowlands ;  and  accident  had  not  made  it  the  theatre  of  any  of 
the  great  battles  by  which  the  fate  of  the  country  was  deter- 
mined. Eor  ten  centuries  it  seems  to  have  been  the  most 
obscure  and  unimportant  of  all  the  counties  of  England. 
From  their  secluded  position  the  people  became  almost  as  wHd 
and  barbarous  as  the  Irish  kernes  of  a  later  date.  Camden, 
so  late  as  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  honestly  confesses  his  reluc- 
tance to  visit  them,  and  devoutly  commends  himself  to  the 
care  of  Divine  Providence,  when  he  had  determined  to  under- 
take a  task  so  perilous  f- 

*  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle,  a.d.  023. 

t  "  Whom  I  feel  some  secret  reluctance  to  visit,  if  they  will  forgive  me  the 
expression.  But  that  I  may  not  seem  to  neglect  Lancashire,  I  must 
attempt  the  task,  not  doubting  but  Providence,  which  has  hitherto  favoured 
me,  will  assist  me  here." — Camden's  Britannia. 


247 

From  these  causes  we  eau  derive  no  help  from  history  iii 
attempting  to  determine  the  races  that    have   peopled   the 
county.     Our    only   source   of  information   is   the    dialectic 
speech  of  the  people^  and  the  names  of  its  to^ms  and  natural 
objects.     This  last  class  has  been  already  referred  to  a  Celtic 
origin^  but  the  names  of  the  towns  and  the  dialectic  words 
are  chiefly  German  or  Scandina^-ian,  showing  that  these  races 
succeeded  the  Celtic  in  the  possession  or  government  of  the 
coimty.     A  large  majority  of  these  words  may  be  found  in 
om*  Anglo-Saxon  dictionaries;  but   do  they  belong  to    the 
Saxon  or  the  Anglian  dinsion  of  this  compound  speech?  and 
were  the  Germanic  conquerors  of  the  Saxon  or  the  Anglian 
race  ?     To  determine  these  questions  we  must  inquire  whether 
there  are  any  means  of  ascertaining  with  more  precision  than 
has   usually   been   attempted,    their   respective   geographical 
boundaries,  the  languages  they  spoke,  and  their  relationships 
with  other  tribes  or  nations. 

Of  the   Saxons,  Dr.  Pritchard  tells  us  that  they  were  a 
single  tribe,  whose  abode  was  opposite  that  of  the  Cauchi,  on 
the  neck  of  the  Cimbric  peninsula,  and  that  they  reached 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Elbe  to  the  river  Chalusus,  supposed 
to  be  the  Trawe.    This  would  limit  their  territor}^  to  the  south 
of  Holstein,  between  Hamburg  and  Lubeck.     He  adds,  that 
Ptolemy  mentions  three  islands  belonging  to  the  Saxon  race 
in  the  mouth  of  the  Elbe,  probably  Nordstrand,  Fohr,  and 
Silt ;  and  that  this  was  the  tribe  whence  came  the  followers 
of  Hengist"^.     But  this  statement,  if  intended  to  imply  that 
the  Saxons,  wlio  invaded  England,  were  exclusively  of  this 
single  tribe,  or  that  the  Elbe  was  the  southern  boundary  of 
the  tribes  that  followed  the  banner  of  Hengist,  is  contradicted 
by  many  unquestionaljle  facts.     There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
the  Fricsic  and  Bata\dan  races  contributed  very  largely  to 
swell  the  warlike  hordes  that  invaded  England  from  the  fifth 
to  the  seventh  centmy.     They  are  not  mentioned  by  Bede 
in  his  account  of  the  invading  tribes,  and  apparently  from 
this  omission  they  have  been  generally  left  out  of  consi- 
deration by  om-  historians.    But  it  may  be  safely  assumed  that 

*  Researches  into  the  Physical  History  of  Mankind,  vol.  iii.  p.  360, 


218 

they  were  among  the  races  that  took  possession  of  England 
at  this  time,  and  that  tlicy  Avere  numbered  among  the  Saxons  : 
it  is  also  highly  prohal)le  tliat  these  tribes  spake  very  nearly 
the  same  language,  and  that  the  Old  Friesic  is  the  best  repre- 
sentative  of  the  speech  of  the  Saxon  tribe  that  dwelt  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  Elbe.  These  views  are  confirmed  by  the 
following  circumstances  : — 1.  The  Friesic  language  is  still 
spoken  in  the  islands  at  the  mouth  of  the  Elbe,  which, 
according  to  Ptolemy,  belonged  to  the  Saxons.  We  have  no 
evidence  that  there  has  ever  been  a  change  of  race  or  language 
in  these  islands.  2.  We  have  the  testimony  of  Procopius 
that  the  Fricsians  were  among  the  races  that  invaded  England. 
He  does  not  mention  the  Saxons  :  '^  BptTTiav  Se  t/)v  vrjaov  tdva 
rpca  TToXvavd poiTroTara  e-^ovai,  ^acrCKev^  re  et?  avrwv  eKaarw 
ic^earrjKev,  ovofiara  Se  Kelrac  roif  edveat  tovtol^  ^AyyiXoi  re 
Koi  ^ptaaove';  Kal  ttj  vrjam  ofxcovv/xot,  BpiTTfove?"^."  We  can 
only  reconcile  this  statement  with  that  of  Bede  by  supposing 
that  the  Saxons  and  Fricsians  were  at  this  time  so  nearly  re- 
lated that  they  were  often  classed  under  the  same  name.  As 
Procopius  lived  about  two  centuries  nearer  the  time  of  these 
transactions  than  Bede,  his  testimony  is  at  least  of  equal  au- 
thority with  that  of  the  latter  writer.  3.  The  traditions  of  the 
Fricsians  and  Dutch  bear  testimony  to  the  fact,  that  their 
ancestors  bore  a  considerable  part  in  the  Saxon  invasion. 
They  even  claim  Hengist  as  their  countryman,  and  assert, 
from  tradition,  that  he  was  banished  from  the  coimtry. 
Maerlant,  a  Dutch  or  Flemish  poet  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
speaks  of  him  as  being  a  Friesian  or  a  Saxon  : — 

"  Een  hiet  Engistus,  een  Vriese,  een  Sas, 
Die  uten  lande  verdreven  was." 

Or,  as  translated  by  Dr.  Bosworth, — 

*  Quoted  by  Dr.  Latham  in  his  work  on  the  English  Language  from 
Zeuss : — "  I  believe  for  my  own  part,"  he  adds,  "  there  were  portions 
in  the  early  Gennanic  population  of  Britain,  which  were  not  strictly  either 
Angle  or  Saxon  (Anglo-Saxon),  but  I  do  this  without  thinking  that  it  bore 
any  great  ratio  to  the  remainder,  and  without  even  guessing  at  what  that 
ratio  was,  or  whereabouts  its  different  component  elements  were  located — 
the  Frisians  and  Batavians  being  the  most  j)robable." — Third  edit.  p.  73. 


249 

"  One  a  Saxon  or  Friesian,  Hengist  by  name. 
From  his  country  was  banish' d  in  sorrow  and  shame*." 

The  words  of  Maerlant  would  rather  imply  that,  in  his  day, 
the  terms  Saxon  and  Friesian  were  synonymousf.  4.  Ver- 
stegan  quotes  some  old  German  verses  that  embody  a  tradition 
of  the  fact  that  Saxon  and  Friesian  were  formerly  synonymous 
terms : — 

"  Oude  boeken  hoorde  ic  gewagen 
Dat  al  liet  lant  beneden  Nuemagen, 
Wylen  neder  Sasson  hiet ;" 
and — 

"Die  neder  Sassen  hieten  nu  VriesenJ." 

Without  questioning  the  fact,  as  stated  by  Pritchard,  that  in 
the  time  of  Valentinian,  and  proljably  earlier,  many  tribes 
were  included  in  the  Saxon  league,  and  bore  the  Saxon  name, 
who  were  different  in  race  and  language  from  the  tribe  which, 
in  the  days  of  Ptolemy,  Avas  seated  on  the  north  bank  of  the 
Elbe,  it  is  evident  that  a  tradition  lingered  in  Germany  till 
the  middle  ages,  that  a  close  connexion  existed  originally 
between  this  tribe  and  the  Batavian  or  Friesic  races.  The 
tradition  is  in  an  imperfect  form,  but  it  implies  that  the  term 
Saxon  was  used  at  a  very  early  period  as  a  generic  word 
including  the  Friesian,  and  that  the  relationship  between 
these   tribes   was   so   close,   that   the  names  of  Saxon  and 

*  Kiug  Alfred's  version  of  Orosius,  Bosvvorth's  ed.  note, 
t  Ocea  Scarlensis,  who  lived  in  the  ninth  or  tenth  centiu-y,  and  was 
himself  a  Frieslander,  states  that  Hengist  and  Ilorsa  were  the  sons  of 
Udulf  Haron,  duke  of  Friesland.  The  historical  statements  of  this  writer 
are  not  to  be  thoi'oughly  relied  on,  but  his  assertion  makes  it  evident  that 
according  to  the  tradition  of  his  day,  these  warriors  came  from  the  country 
to  the  south  of  the  Elbe.  Another  assertion  of  this  writer,  that  the  Frie- 
sians  and  Saxons  were  descended  from  two  brothers,  Friso  and  Saxo,  is 
evidently  a  mere  myth,  which  indicates  however  that  there  was  a  close 
family  relationship  between  these  tribes.  See  Verstegan,  Restitution  of 
Decayed  Intelligence,  pp.  18,  130. 

J  "  Old  books  I  have  heard  affirm. 

That  all  the  land  below  Nymegen 
Was  once  called  Lower  Saxon." 
and —     "  The  Lower  Saxons  are  now  called  Friesian." 

Vei'stegan,  p.  90. 
T 


250 

Fricsian  were  given  at  different  times  to  the  same  people. 
5.  The  words  of  the  Englisli  hmguage  are  more  closely  related 
to  those  of  the  Old  Friesic,  especially  North  Friesic,  than  to 
any  other  branch  of  the  German  stock.  The  following  list 
of  words,  taken  at  random  from  Richtofen's  Altfricsisches 
Worterbnch,  will  show  how  much  nearer  it  is  to  modern 
English  than  the  present  German  language. 

OLD   FRIESIC.  GERMAN.  ENGLISH. 

hervst,  N.  Fries,  harvst  herbst harvest. 

harkia     horen,  horchen  . .  hark. 

halt    lahm halt. 

half   balb    half. 

hors   ross,  pfcrd horse. 

renda reissen     rend. 

rida   reiten ride. 

song,  sang gesang    song. 

strete     strasse    street. 

thenne dann then. 

there da there. 

thiaf,  tief dieb     thief. 

this,  dis     dieser this. 

wid    weit     wide. 

wif    weib    wife. 

wane sich  verringern  . .  wane. 

warand gewiihre warrant. 

werka    arbeiten work. 

wet    nass     wet. 

weter,  water wasser     water. 

fridom freiheit    freedom. 

field feld field. 

Saterdi Saterdag  (prov.)  , .  Saturday. 

sella,  N.  Fries,  selle  . .  verkaufen    sell. 

sitta sitzen sit. 

To  which  may  be  added  that  the  word  from  which  the  Saxons 
derived  their  name"^ — Sax  or  Seax,  a  short  curved  sword — 
is  found  in  the  Old  Friesic  Sax  (messer,  kurzes  sehwert). 
Our  modern  English  sign  of  the  infinitive  mood,  "to/'  in 

*  Quippe  brevis  gladius  apud  illos  Saxa  vocatur, 

Unde  sibi  Saxo  nomen  traxisse  putatur. — Verstegan,  p.  24. 


251 

connexion  with  the  Anglo-Saxon  and  German  termination  in 
"  an "  or  "  en/'  is  found  in  this  language  alone  of  all  the 
Teutonic  stock.  The  most  ancient  remains  of  the  Old  Friesic 
are  the  'Leges  Frisionim/  Avritten  in  the  time  of  Charlemagne ; 
and  in  the  law  relating  to  the  clergy,  it  is  pro\dded  that  each, 
in  a  watery  country,  shall  have  a  ship,  and  in  the  elevated 
land,  a  horse,  that  he  may  ride  to  ^dsit  the  sick :  in  the  Old 
Friesic,  "  is  hit  aen  wetterlande,  een  schip  toe  habben,  is  hit 

an  gastland  een  hinxt  to   habben,  deer  hi  mede  ride 

toe  fandiane  dae  siecka^."  The  word  'hinxt'  (horse),  is  also 
fomid  in  the  form  '  hengst,'  and  is  the  name  of  the  celebrated 
wan-ior  that  brought  his  warlike  followers  to  the  help  of  the 
unfortunate  Yortigernt- 

The  conclusions  we  may  draw  from  this  varied  evidence  are : 
1.  That  the  Saxons  who    invaded  England  came   not   only 
from  the  limited  territory  between  the  Elbe  and  the  Trawe, 
but  were  rather  a  mixed  race  livdng  chiefly  to  the  south  of  the 
Elbe.      2.  That  the  Friesic  race  was  closely  related  to  the 
proper  Saxon  tribe,  and  was  often  called  by  their  name;  or 
rather,  that  the  terms  Saxon  and  Friesian  were  used  indiscri- 
minately, one  always  involving  the  other;  so  that  Procopius, 
for  this  reason,  speaks  only  of  Friesians,  and  Bede  only  of 
Saxons,  just  as  in  our  day  we  use  indifl'erently  the  Avords 
Britons  and  Englishmen,  though  originally  distinct.     3.  The 
Old  Friesic  language  will  assist  us  in  determining  the  pure 
Saxon  element  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  tongue,  and  therefore  we 
may  infer  a  Saxon  or  Friesian  immigration  where  words  of 
this  class  are  found. 

The  dialect  and  the  local  names  of  Lancashire  offer  some 
remarkable  illustrations  of  these  facts.  There  are  two  Fi-iese- 
lands,  or  Friesian-lands  in  the  county ;  one  near  Blackrod, 

*  The  author  of  Piers  Plowman's  Vision  uses  both  the  Friesic  and  the 
])resent  English  form.     This  marks  a  period  of  transition  : — 

"  And  thus  bigynnen  thise  gnomes  to  greden  fill  heighe, 

Sciant  presentes,"  &c. 
"  And  Favel  with  his  fikel  speche  feffeth  by  this  chartre, 
To  be  princes  in  pride  and  poverty  to  despise. 
To  backbite  and  to  bosten." 
t  See  note  (3)  at  the  end. 

T  2 


252 

and  the  otlicr  in  the  south-east.  It  is  possible  that  they  may 
have  drawn  their  name  from  settlements  of  Friesians,  out 
of  the  Fricsic  eohort  that  garrisoned  for  many  years  the  city 
of  Manchester,  Avhen  a  lloman  station^.  I  will  not  attempt 
to  determine  Avhether  these  Friesians  first  occupied  the  lands 
which  bear  their  name,  under  the  Roman  or  the  Saxon  rule. 
The  latter  is  the  more  probable,  as  we  have  no  instances  of 
legionary  cohorts  giving  names  to  places  near  any  other 
lloman  station.  If  this  instance  should  lie  supposed  doubtfid, 
we  have  other  proofs  of  the  connexion  of  the  Friesians  with 
the  Saxons  in  our  local  names ;  as  for  instance  in  Wigan,  the 
town  of  battles;  Old  Friesic  wich  (strife,  combat),  Old  Saxon 
wig,  North  Friesic  iviyh,  Anglo-Saxon  wiy  (war,  battle). 
Local  tradition  asserts  that  in  the  neighbourhood  of  this  town 
the  renowned  Arthur  fought  tlu'ce  battles  against  the  Saxons 
on  three  successive  days,  and  that  the  river  Douglas  ran  red 
with  blood  to  the  sea.  From  some  event  of  this  kind,  with 
which  the  name  of  the  half-fabidous  Arthiu*  has  been  con- 
nected, the  town  may  have  derived  its  name.  We  have 
another  instance  in  the  town  of  Over,  near  Leigh.  Old 
Friesic  ovei'e  (sea-shore  or  bank  of  a  stream) ;  German  ufer ; 
Anglo-Saxon  ofer;  North  Friesic  over-,  and  in  the  towns, 
Bold,  near  Warrington,  and  Parbold ;  Old  Friesic  bold  (house) ; 
Anglo-Saxon  bold.  The  local  termination  wick,  is  also  a 
mark  of  our  Friesic  colonists.  "  It  is  pronounced  veihs  in 
Gothic,"  says  Prof.  Leo,  "wich  in  Old  High  German,  wik  in 
Friesian.'^  It  is  common  in  Holland.  The  Friesic  form  is 
the  only  one  found  in  Lancashire ;  as  m  Winwick,  FishAvick, 
Elswick,  Salwick ;  except  in  Horwick,  sometimes  -wTittcn  Hor- 
wich.  To  these  may  be  added  the  Saxon  Reeedham,  now 
called  Rochdale;  A.-S.  reced,  O.  Saxon r«A;Mc/,  a  baronial  seat 
or  mansion.  Tradition  still  speaks  of  it  as  the  residence  of 
a  Saxon  thane.  Ham.,  as  distinguished  from  ham,  heim,  though 
sometimes  found  in  Upper  Germany,  is  also  a  Friesic  word. 
According  to  Prof.  Leo,  "  names  of  places  with  ham  are  not, 
like  those  with  tun,  peculiar  to  the  Anglo-Saxons ;  however, 
they  are  only  elsewhere  found  among  the  Friesian  stock,  from 

*  Dr.  Whittakei's  History  of  Manchester,  vol.  i.  p.  62,  63. 


253 

North  Friesland  along  the  whole  coast  of  the  North  Sea." 
In  Lancashire  we  have  Cheetham,  DoAvnham,  Cockcrham, 
Bispham,  Lytham^  and  a  few  other  places  with  this  ending. 
(See  also  p.  45.) 

The  Friesic  language  will  also  explain  a  peculiarity  in  the 
Lancashire  pronunciation  of  a  large  class  of  words,  and  will 
show  that  in  this,  as  in  other  instances,  the  peculiar  form  is 
not  a  corruption  of  the  language,  but  simply  an  archaism. 
For  stand,  land,  sand,  man,  pan,  can  (aux.  v.),  the  Lancashire 
form  is  stond,  lond,  sond,  mon,  pon,  con;  and  this  is  pure 
Friesian^.  Thus  in  the  '  Leges  Frisiorum/ — the  Fresa  and 
sine  ain  frilike  lond  (the  Friesians,  and  their  own  free  land) , — 
hwersa  ma  nimth  tha  mentre  falsk  gold  inna  sinre  hond  (who- 
ever takes  to  the  minter  false  gold  in  his  hand), — otheres 
monnes  wif  (another  man's  wife), — sa  skilun  hiara  lif  opa  tlies 
ena  hals  stonda  (so  shall  their  life  stand  upon  this  one's 
neck), — thes  etheles  wives  werthmond  stont  bi  viii  pundon 
(the  marriage  price  of  a  noble  wife  stood  by  [consisted  of] 
eight  pounds)  f.  Grimm,  in  his  Deutsche  Grammatik,  has 
noticed  this  peculiarity  of  the  Friesic.  "  0  is  of  a  double 
kind  : — 1,  representing  the  pure  a-sound,  e.  g.  hond,  brond, 
lond,  stonda,  gonga,  long,  thonk,  sponne,  monna,  ponne, 
bonnar  (interdicta),  &c.,  sometimes  in  the  fourth  case  of 
the  a;  e.g.  lorn  (claudus)  [Lane,  lom],  noma  (nomen),  homer 
(malleus)  [Lane,  hommer],  homelja  (debilitare),  fona  (vex- 
illum,  bona  (occisor)  [retained  in  the  almost  obsolete  "boned," 
destroyed,  ruined],  hon  (gallus),  fovne  (femina,  A.-S.  famne), 
nose  (nasus),  onkel  (talus)  [Lane,  onkel] .  2.  The  common  o 
in  God  (Deus),  boda  (nuntius)f,"  &c. 

*  I  need  scarcely  remind  my  readers  that  this  form  is  common  in  Okl 
English  Uterature.     Thus  Chaucer — 

"  I  saw  his  sieves  purfiled  at  the  hond 
With  gris,  and  that  the  finest  of  the  lond." 

Canterbury  Tales,  Prologue. 

t  In  Lancashire  it  is  still  a  current  phrase,  that  such  a  thing  has  stood 
a  person  in  so  many  pounds,  i.  e.  it  has  cost  him  so  much. 

X  Altfriesische  Vocale,  vol.  i.  p.  271.  The  form  land,  &c.  was  also  used 
by  the  Friesians,  though  the  Lancashire  form  was  apparently  more  common  : 
"  da  spreeck  di  koningh  Kaerl,   haha,  dat  land  is  myn,  ende  hlakade " 


254 

Otlier  instances  will  be  given  snbseqiiently  of  the  agree- 
ment of  Friesian  and  Lancashire  words,  when  we  come  to  the 
discussion  of  separate  dialectic  words. 

Our  next  inquiry  must  be  into  the  nature  of  the  Anglian 
division  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  speech.  Who,  then,  were  the 
Angles?  Historical  or  ethnogra})hieal  records  give  an  in- 
distinct rcjjly  to  this  question.  There  is  scarcely  a  trace  of 
this  tribe,  which  yet  has  given  its  name  to  England,  and  has 
exercised  a  jjowcrful  influence  on  her  destinies,  in  any  records 
we  possess  of  the  ancient  Germanic  races,  Tacitus  numbers 
them  among  the  Suevi,  a  race  that  included  many  distinct 
tribes.  He  classes  them  with  other  obscure  tribes,  of  whom 
he  had  no  distinct  information,  or  of  whom  nothing  could  be 
said,  "Reudigiii  deinde  et  Aviones  et  Angli  et  Varini,  et 
Eudoses  et  Suarones  et  Nuithones,  fluminibns  aut  silvis 
muniimtur.  Nee  quidquam  notabile  in  singulis,  nisi  quod 
in  commune  Herthum,  id  est,  terram  matrem  colunt"^,'' 
Ptolemy  tells  us  that  the  Angli  inhabited  the  left  bank  of  the 
Elbe,  They  appear  however  to  have  migrated  northwards  at 
an  early  period,  and  to  have  established  themselves  to  the 
north  of  the  Saxons  and  below  the  Jutes,  probably  as  far  as 
Engelsholra,  in  the  south  of  Jutland.  Professor  Leo,  of 
Halle,  believes  that  they  formed  a  part  of  the  mixed  race 
called  the  Allemanni,  and  asserts  that  in  the  mediseval  times 
the  country  south-west  of  Heidelberg,  east  of  the  Rhine,  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Karlsruhe  and  Miihlburg,  was  called 
the  Angladeyau.  He  affirms  also,  that  "  names  answering  to 
the  Anglo-Saxon  stud  so  thickly  at  least  one  part  of  the  land 
of  this  latter  people  (the  Allemanni),  that  a  connexion 
throughout  must  be  entertained.  It  would  be  no  remote 
explanation  of  the  phaenomenon  to  infer  that  the  Romans 
located  detached  colonies  of  AUemannic  captives  in  England, 
similarly  to  Vandal  and  other  German  prisoners;  but  it 
seems  much  more  imperative  to  assume  that  the  AUemannic 
colonization   in    South    Germany    and    the    Anglo-Saxon   n\ 

then  spake  Karl  the  king  (Charlemagne),  Haha,  that  land  is  mine,  and  he 
laughed). — Richtofen,  s.  v.  haha. 
*  Germania,  c.  40. 


255 

Britain  partially  issued  from  a  common  source,  but  in  the 
one  case  at  an  earlier  period  than  the  other"^."  The  name, 
Angladegau,  would  certainly  lead  us  to  infer  that  the  Angles 
migrated  to  the  south  as  well  as  to  the  north  of  their  former 
territoiy  on  the  Elbe,  but  the  comparison  of  words  wdiich  Prof. 
Leo  adduces  in  support  of  his  assertion,  heim — ham,  lach — 
leah,  stein — stane,  brunn — burne,  &c.,  would  rather  show  a 
relationship  of  language  than  a  positive  identity.  One  suffix 
in  this  list,  ham,  is  found  only  in  this  form  in  the  proper  Friesic 
and  Anglian  territory;  Fries,  ham;  Old  Sax.  hem;  Germ. 
heim;  Old  Fries,  hama  (heimen,  wohnen),  probably  connected 
with  the  O.  Fries,  hemma,  to  enclose,  to  hinder.  Prof.  Leo  has 
himself  quoted  from  Dahlmann's  edition  of  John  Adolfis, 
known  as  Neokorus'  '  Chronicle  of  the  Province  of  Ditmar- 
schen  :' — "  Whatever  obstructs  or  is  obstructed,  hems  in  or  is 
hemmed  in,  is  called  hamm  or  hemme,  whether  it  be  a  forest,  a 
fenced  field,  a  meadow,  a  swamp,  a  reed-bank,  or  isolated  low- 
lands, won  by  circumscribing  with  palisades  an  area  in  the  bed 
of  a  river ;  indeed,  even  a  house  or  a  castle  was  so  called  by  the 
Friesiansf."  Outzen  also  tells  us  that  "  in  the  country  of  the 
Angles,  as  well  as  here  (in  North  Friesland),  every  enclosed 
place  is  called  a  hamm.'^  It  is  more  probable  therefore  that 
the  words  mentioned  by  Prof.  Leo  are  due  to  an  admixture 
of  the  Angli  with  the  races  that  spoke  a  High-German  dialect, 
and  that  they  gradually  assumed  the  language  of  these  races. 
Their  ready  admixture,  however,  with  the  AUemanni  on  the 
one  hand,  and  with  the  Saxon  or  Low  German  tribes  on  the 
other,  is  an  argmnent  in  favour  of  the  theory,  that  their 
language  was  intermediate  between  the  two.  It  is  moreover 
very  probable  that  the  speech  of  all  the  Germanic  races  at 
the  time  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  invasion,  was  nearer  the  Low 
than  the  High  German  type;  or,  in  other  Avords,  that  the 
languages  of  Southern  Germany  were  a  development  fi'om 
those  of  the  races  inhabiting  the  countries  on  the  northern 
part  of  the  banks  of  the  Elbe.  It  is  also  probable  that  a 
part  of  the  Anglian  race  may  have  migrated  to  the  south- 

*  Treatise  on  the  Local  Nomenclature  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  j).   129, 
Eng.  ed.  t  P.  39. 


256 

west  of  Germany,  for  in  the  days  of  Ptolemy  they  extended 
alons:  the  Elbe  almost  as  far  southwards  as  to  the  Lower  Saalc 
or  the  Ohre*. 

It  is  certain,  however,  that  the  Angles  who  miited  with  the 
Saxon  tribes  in  the  invasion  of  England,  were  from  that  part 
of  the  Anglian  race  that  had  migrated  to  the  north  of  the 
Elbe.     We  have  the  express  testimony  of  Bede  and  of  king 
Alfred  to  this  effect.     Bede  tells  iis  that  their  territory  lay 
between  that  of  the  Jutes  and  Saxonsf,  and  Alfred,  in  his 
version  of  Orosius,  confirms  the  statement : — "  On  the  west 
of  the  Old  Saxons  is  the  mouth  of  the  river  Elbe  and  Fries- 
land,  and  then  north-west  is  the  land  which  is  called  Aiigh 
aiid  Sealand,  and  some  part  of  the  Danes.'^     And  again,  in 
speaking  of  this  country  and  the  Danish  isles  :  "  On  that  land 
lived  Angles,  before  they  hither  to  the  land  came."     The 
modern  district  of  Anglen  is  bounded  by  the   Schlie,  the 
Flensborger  Fiord,  and  a  line  drawn  fi-om  Flensborg  to  Sles- 
wick ;  but  we  may  assign,  from  the  statement  of  Alfred,  and 
from  the  testimony  of  Etherwerd  in  the  thirteenth  century — 
that  Sleswick  was  the  capital  city  of  the  ancient  AngliaJ — a 
much  wider  district  to  the  Angli  in  the  fifth  century.     This 
latter  writer  informs  us  that  Sleswic  was  the  Saxon  name  of 
this  city,  and  that  it  was  afterwards  changed  by  the  Danes  to 
Hathabij.     We  may  infer  from  this  that  the  Anglian  speech 
resembled  that  of  the  Saxons,    or  that  it  was  substantially 
a  Low-German  dialect ;  while  from  their  geographical  con- 
nexion with  a  Scandinavian  race,  we  may  draw  the  additional 
inference  that  it  would  contain  some  words   that  properly 
belonged  to  the  Danish  or  rather  to  the  Old  Norse  dialect. 

The  conclusions  we  may  draw  from  the  whole  of  this  evi- 
dence are  these  two  : — 1 .  That  the  Anglian  speech  was  pro- 
perly a  Low-German  dialect,  but  approximating  more  than 
the  Saxon  or  Friesic  to  the  language  afterwards  developed  in 
the  Old  High  German.     2.  That  it  was  affected,  in  some 

*  Pritchard,  vol.  iii.  p.  360.  f  Ecclesiastical  History,  c.  15. 

;j:  "  Anglia  vetus  sita  est  inter  Saxones  et  Giotos,  habens  oppiduni 
capitale,  quod  sermone  Saxonico  Sleswic  niincupatur,  secundum  veio 
Danes,  Hathahy."     Quoted  by  Dr.  Latham  from  Zeuss,  p.  65. 


257 

degree,  by  their  connexion  with  Scandinavian  or  Old  Norse 
races,  but  more  in  the  matter  or  words  of  the  language  than 
its  grammatical  structure. 

We  shall  find  some  confirmation  of  these  ^dews  in  the  Lan- 
cashire dialect  and  local  names.  In  the  middle  of  the  coimty 
we  have  Anglezark.  Tlie  first  part  of  the  word  is,  without 
doubt,  from  the  name  of  this  tribe ;  the  second  is  found  also 
in  Grimsargh,  Kellamargh,  Mansargh,  and  Goosnargh,  all 
names  of  places  not  far  from  Anglezark,  and  is  probably  the 
Old  High  German  haruc*,  Old  Norse  horgr,  A.-S.  hearh, 
gen.  hearges,  a  heathen  temple  or  altar.  The  Old  Norse 
horga  (aspretum  editiusf)  shoAVs  that  it  meant  primarily  a 
lofty  grove,  and  thence  a  temple  encircled  with  groves 
(according  to  Bede's  description  of  a  heathen  temple,  "  fanum 
cum  omnibus  septis  suis'^),  and  lastly,  a  temple.  It  answers 
therefore  to  the  Danish  lurid  (a  sacred  grove).  We  know  from 
Tacitus  J,  that  all  the  Germanic  races  were  wont  to  celebrate 
the  rites  of  their  dark  and  cruel  worship  in  the  gloomy 
shade  of  forests  or  groves,  and  the  word  teaches  us,  as  Wed- 
neshough  (Wodensfield),  Satterthwaite  (Ssetere),  and  Limd, 
that  the  Angles  were  worshippers  of  the  old  Teutonic  deities, 
when  they  took  possession  of  Lancashire.  The  name  Avas 
probably  given  by  the  Angles  themselves,  and  if  so,  it  indicates 
that  the  Anglian  speech  approached,  in  some  words,  to  the 
High  German  form.  The  word  does  not  belong,  I  think,  to 
the  Old  Friesic,  or  to  the  modern  Dutch ;  but  to  the  Scandi- 
navian and  the  High-German  dialects. 

We  have  also  an  Old  High-German  form  in  the  word  Parr, 
found  simply  in  the  village  of  Parr,  near  St.  Helen's,  and  in 
Parbold.  The  Anglo-Saxon  bearo  is  translated  by  Bosworth, 
"  a  high  or  hilly  place,  a  grove,  a  wood,  a  hill  covered  with 
wood ;"  but  it  would  seem  to  be  connected  with  the  verb  beran 
(to  bear,  to  bear  fruit),  and  to  mean  especially  a  wood  that  sup- 
plied mast  for  fattening  swine  :   "  Hsec  sunt  pascua  porcorum, 

*  Grimm,  D.  G.  vol.  iii.  p.  428. 

t  I  think  Biorn  means  by  this  i)hi-ase,  "  a  woody  hill,"  from  his  trans- 
latin;;  holt,  Germ,  holz,  "  aspi'ctum." 
X  Gurmania,  c.  40. 


258 

qii?e  nostra  lingua  Saxouica  denbera  nominamiis*."  Grimm,  in 
his  '  Deutsche  Mythologie/  tells  us  that  the  Old  High-German 
form  of  the  ■svord  was  paro,  and  that  it  often  signified  a  con- 
secrated  grove,  like  the  Danish  lund.  If  bearo  or  bei'U  was 
the  Saxon  form,  then  pa7'o  must  have  been  Anglian,  and  in 
this  instance  the  latter  is  more  Upper  German  than  Saxon. 
The  following  are  other  instances  of  the  same  kmd  :  — 

Hurst,  O.  H.  Germ.  hurst\. 

Booth',  house  or  mansion ;  Modern  Germ,  bi'ittel,  in  llitze- 
biittel,  Brunsbiittel,  &c.  The  Friesic  and  Old  Saxon  form  is 
bold  or  bodel,  found  in  Bolton,  written  in  Domesday  Book 
Bodelton. 

Worth,  a  very  common  local  name  in  the  comity.  There 
are  nearly  as  many  places  with  this  word  as  the  final 
syllable,  in  Lancashire,  as  in  the  whole  of  the  list  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  names  in  Kemble's  Charters;  South  German  worth, 
North  German  wuurt.  According  to  Prof.  Leo,  "  it  has  pro- 
bably the  same  meaning  as  the  Low  Germ,  wort  he,  a  protected 
enclosed  homestead."  Sonne,  in  his  description  of  Hanover, 
says  that  worth  means  in  Low  Saxon  "  a  place  without  trees." 
From  an  expression  in  the  Laws  of  Ina,  it  would  seem  to  have 
been  connected  with  the  "  chm'ls"  or  serving-men  in  his  time, 
"  Ceorles  weorthig  sceal  beon  wintres  and  sumeres  betyned  J." 
This  word  is  common  to  all  the  German  dialects,  but  is  found 
more  frequently  in  the  Lancashire  form  in  Upper  Germany ; 
as  Donauworth  and  Grafenworth,  in  Bavaria ;  Konigsworth  in 
East  Saxony,  and  Schlarkenwerth  in  Bohemia. 

Sal  in  Salford,  Salwick,  Crumpsall,  Becensall,  Halsall,  &c. 
O.  H.  Germ,  sal,  A.-S.  sele;  the  Old  Saxon  form  halla, 
A.-S.  heal  (hale),  is  not  often  found  as  forming  part  of  a 
local  name  in  Lancashire.     These  instances  are  not  given  to 

*  Quoted  by  Professor  Leo  from  Kemble's  Charters,  No.  288. 

t  Holt  is  common  to  the  Old  Friesic  and  the  High-German  dialects. 
Hyrst,  or  hurst,  is  properly  a  wood  that  produces  fodder  for  cattle,  and 
answers  to  the  Old  High  German  spreidach  (fruticetum,  s])inetum). 

X  The  worth  was,  I  think,  an  out-lying  homestead,  usually  on  the  banks 
of  a  stream,  for  the  "  churls  "  or  serving-men,  such  as  would  be  necessary 
in  the  large  farms  that  must  have  been  common  in  Lancashire  from  the 
nature  of  the  soil. 


259 

show  that  the  Anglian  division  of  the  A.-S.  speech  was  closely 
related  to  the  Upper  German,  for  it  is  certain  that  it  rather 
belonged  to  the  Low  German  type ;  but  simply  that  some 
words  have  been  retained  that  can  be  best  referred  to  the 
former  class,  and  as  indicating  that  there  is  an  element  in  the 
A.-S.  local  names  that  is  more  German  than  Saxon  or  Friesic. 
My  own  comdction  is,  that  there  was  much  less  divergence 
between  the  different  forms  of  the  Teutonic  languages  in  the 
fifth  and  sixth  centuries,  than  at  a  later  period,  but  that 
where  there  is  any  divergence  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  from  the 
Low  German  type,  it  may  very  probably  be  referred  to  the 
Anglian  race.    These  views  are  confirmed  by  such  words  as — 

Gawm,  to  give  heed  to,  to  consider,  to  understand;  gawmless, 
being  in  a  state  of  vacant  heedlessness,  foolish,  silly.  This  is 
the  Gothic  gaumjan  (to  perceive,  to  give  heed  to) ;  Old  High 
German  ^owmew ;  Old  Saxon  ^romiaw  ;  Anglo-Saxon  ^eomia^z 
(to  take  care  of);  Old  Norse  geijma  (servare,  custodire).  The 
Lancashire  word  has  retained  the  Gothic,  and  evidently  the 
primary,  meaning  of  the  word, — to  look  at,  to  give  heed  to, 
to  imderstand.  The  ordinary  Anglo-Saxon  sense,  to  take 
care  of,  coincides  with  the  Old  Norse  geyma;  though  this 
language  has  retained  the  primitive  meaning  in  gaumr  (at- 
tentio),  gexsi  gaum  at  (curare,  attendere). 

Glum,  sour,  sidlen,  moody ;  German  glumm,  gloomy ;  A.-S. 
glom,  gloom. 

Grub  up,  to  dig  up;  Goth,  grahan;  Old  High  German 
graban;  Old  Saxon  bigrabhan;  Anglo- Saxon  grafan;  Old 
Friesic  greva ;  Du.  graven ;  and  other  words  of  a  similar  kind. 

The  plural  ending  of  the  Lancashire  verb,  "  en,"  Ave  loven, 
ye  loven,  they  loven,  is  also  an  intimation  of  the  same 
divergence  to  an  Upper  German  type.  The  Anglo-Saxon 
ending,  i.  e.  the  Anglo-Saxon  as  written  in  the  works  that 
have  come  down  to  us,  is  "  ath,"  lufiath,  we,  you  or  they,  love; 
and  this  is  the  Old  Friesic  form ;  "  tha  afretha  ther  alio  Hrio- 
stringa  huldath"  (all  the  Hriostringa  hold  their  courts  of  law 
there) ;  "  thesse  kiningar  hebbath  ewesen"  (these  kings  have 
been).  The  Lancashire  form  is  more  nearly  allied  to  the 
modern  German,  differing  only  in  this,  that  the  Lancashire 


260 

vcrbal-ciidiug-  is  the  same  in  all  the  three  persons.  I  need 
not  remind  you  that  this  form  is  used  by  Chaucer  and  otlicr 
early  English  ■WTitei's  : — 

"  Sche  was  so  diligent  withouten  sloutlie 
To  serve  and  plese  ever  in  that  place 
That  alle  hir  loven  that  loken  on  hir  face." 

Man  of  Lawes  Tale. 
Both  forms  are  found  in  Piers  Plo\^Tnan's  Vision ; — 

"  Thannc  telleth  they  of  the  Trinitc  a  tale  outher  tweye, 
And  brynyen  forth  a  balled  reson,  and  taken  Bernard  to  witness." 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  both  forms  were  used  in  England 
from  the  time  that  the  Anglo-Saxon  tribes  took  possession  of 
the  country,  and  while  it  is  certain  that  the  written  A.-S. 
form  is  pure  Friesic,  it  is  highly  probable  that  the  form  still 
used  in  Lancashire  was  brought  there  ])y  the  Anglian  race. 

It  is  a  disputed  point  whether  the  Scandinavian  or  Danish 
clement,  which  undoubtedly  exists  in  our  standard  English, 
and  more  evidently  in  our  dialects,  is  due  to  the  Angles,  that 
Averc  joined  with  the  Saxons  in  the  earlier  invasion  of  the 
country,  or  to  the  fierce  Northmen  who  afterwards  ravaged 
the  country  from  the  Thames  to  the  Sol  way  Frith.  The  late 
Islr.  Garnett  and  Dr.  Latham  have  maintained  that  the  Scan- 
dina\ian  element  is  pi'opcrly  Danish,  and  has  been  brought  in 
by  the  Danes  m  the  later  invasions  from  the  north  of  Europe. 
Mr.  Guest,  however,  is  of  opinion  that  there  are  no  traces 
of  the  Danish,  either  in  our  MSS.  or  our  dialects^;  and 
that  the  peculiarities  of  the  northern  dialects  may  be  explained 
by  the  fact  that  the  Angles  had  been  the  neighbours  of  the 
Danes  before  they  invaded  this  country.  It  would  be  erro- 
neous to  argue  the  question  on  the  supposition  that  the 
Scandinavian  languages  were  as  distinctly  separate  from  the 
Teutonic  in  the  fifth  century  as  they  are  now.  Many  words 
are  found  in  the  Old  Fricsic  which  have  been  retained  only 
by  the  Icelandic  or  Old  Norse,  but  these  must  have  been 
common  even  in  the  ninth  century  to  all  the  races  that 
occupied  the  countries  that  lay  between  South  Friesland  and 

*  English  Rhythms,  vol.  ii.  p.  186-207. 


261 

Norway.  There  was  however  certainly  a  difference  between 
the  languages  spoken  in  Friesland  and  Denmark,  though  we 
cannot  lay  down  precisely  the  boundary  lines  that  divided 
them.  How  then  are  we  to  decide  the  question  ?  We  may 
establish  a  high  probability,  at  least,  on  one  side  or  the  other, 
if  we  examine  the  words  of  a  dialect  to  discover  a  Scandi- 
naAdan  element,  and  then  inqmre  whether  there  are  any  traces 
of  Danish  settlements  in  that  neighbourhood.  Lancashire, 
and  the  dialect  of  the  county,  oflPer  some  advantages  in  the 
prosecution  of  such  an  inquiry.  There  are  no  signs  of  a 
Danish  occupation  of  the  comity  from  JNIanchester  to  the 
north-east,  as  far  as  Todmorden,  and  along  the  middle  of  the 
county  as  far  as  a  line  dra\^Ti  from  Kirkby  to  Balderstone. 
AVe  know  too  that  the  Danes  were  woreted  by  the  Anglians  in 
the  battles  which  were  fought  on  the  south,  and  in  the  eastern 
parts  of  the  comity.  The  Saxon  Chronicle  has  recorded  one 
that  was  fought  at  TattenhaU  in  Cheshfre,  between  the  Danes 
and  the  Angles,  in  which  the  Danes  were  defeated"^,  and 
tradition  still  speaks  of  another  near  Rochdale,  where  on 
Camp-liill  the  Danes  had  taken  up  their  position,  and  of  the 
fearful  slaughter  that  followed  in  the  valley  below,  still  called 
KiU-Danes.  The  Northmen  were  evidently  imable  to  take 
possession  of  this  part  of  the  county,  and  yet  there  are  many 
Avords  spoken  in  the  dialect  of  this  part  that  belong  now  to 
the  Danish  language.  If  the  number  of  these  words  were 
small,  it  might  remain  doubtful  whether  they  had  not  been 
part  of  the  common  inheritance  of  all  the  races  from  the  Ems 
or  Weser  to  the  Soimd,  but  their  number  is  such  as  to  make 
it  much  more  probable  that  this  is  properly  a  Danish  element, 
and  the  facts  already  related  make  it  almost  certain  that  it 
had  been  imported  by  the  Angles.  There  is  also  a  Danish 
element  in  the  Anglo-Saxon,  as  it  has  come  down  to  us  in 
Avritings  of  an  early  date,  and  this  may  confidently  be  ascribed 
to  the  same  race.  But  in  the  north  and  west  of  the  county, 
there  are  many  local  names  that  were  certainly  Danish  even 
in  the  twelfth  century,  and  the  Scandinavian  or  Danish 
words  therefore  peculiar  to  these  parts  may  be  attributed  to 

*  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle,  a.u.  910. 


262 

the  Danes  themselves.  The  proper  Scan(lilla^•ian  or  Old 
Norse  clement,  existing  in  the  dialect,  contains  some  words 
that  are  not  now  fonnd  in  the  Danish  language,  and  from  this 
^Ye  may  infer  that  the  Northmen,  who  so  often  ravaged  the 
eastern  shores  of  England,  and  penetrated  even  to  the  v.cst 
coast,  were  drawn  from  every  part  of  the  Scandinavian  ter- 
ritory. This  is  one  of  the  many  instances  in  which  philology 
confirms  the  records  of  history. 

Additional  Remarks  on  Anglo-Saxon  Names  of  Places. 

It  is  perhaps  worthy  of  notice  that  few  local  names  in  Lan- 
cashire end  with  terms  expressive  of  the  union  of  unrelated 
families  in  the  formation  of  what  we  now  call  a  "  town,"  or 
"  mmiicipality,"  such  as  borough  (A.-S.  byrig,  burg,  a  fortified 
toAvn) ;  thorpe  Old  Norse,  thyrping,  (congregatio) ;  thorp 
(oppidum),  Fries,  thorj)  (id.) ;  or  byr,  by,  properly  the  town  or 
village,  as  distinct  from  the  castle ;  Dan.  by ;  Old  Norse  byr. 
They  are  usually  formed  from  words  expressing  objects  in 
natural  scenery,  as  wood,  shaw,  lea,  mere,  hill,  law  (Goth. 
hldw,  tumulus;  O.  H.  G.  and  O.  Sax.  hleo,  id.);  holt  (wood, 
Friesic  holt.  Germ,  holz)  and  moor ;  or  of  words  indicating  a 
single  homestead,  with  its  enclosure,  such  as  ham,  worth, 
bodel,  sail,  cote  {cot,  a  poor  man's  house)  and  ton,  originally 
an  enclosed  place  or  homestead.  (Old  Norse  tun,  pratum  do- 
mesticum,  viridarium  ;  Dutch  tuin,  sepes,  hortus,  vertuinen,  to 
hedge  about;  O.  H.  G.  zun,  sepes,  the  root  being  in  all  the 
Teutonic  languages,  as  in  the  Lane,  tan,  a  twig,  a  word 
expressing  simply  a  branch  or  bough,  and  thence  a  hedge.) 
Bilborough  is  the  only  instance  I  know  in  the  north  of  the 
coimty;  a  few  are  found  in  the  south,  Bmy,  Duxbmy,  &e. 
Thorp  and  Byr  do  not  occur,  I  thinlc ;  By  marks  the  Danish 
towns,  and  is  found  about  six  or  seven  times.  Tliis  fact 
indicates  that  Lancashire  was  but  thinly  inhabited  in  the 
Anglo-Saxon  age.  There  were  few  towns,  in  the  modern 
sense  of  the  word.  Separate  farm-houses,  with  their  out- 
offices,  and  a  few  huts  for  the  "  churls"  or  servants,  were  the 
chief  features  in  the  scene,  and  in  the  wild  moorlands,  of 
wliich  a  large  part  of  the  county  consisted  of  old,  these  would 


263 

appear  only  at  distant  intervals.  We  are  not  surprised  therefore 
to  read  in  Domesday  Book  that  hi  the  hundred  of  Amoun- 
derness,  there  were  only  sixteen  villages,  "  quae  a  paucis  inco- 
luntm-/'  adds  the  record :  "  reliqua  sunt  wasta." 

There  is  a  considerable  number  of  places  ending  in  "  ing," 
as  Chipping,  Melling,  Pilling,  &c.  implying  the  residence  of  a 
clan  or  family.  This  form  does  not  teach  us  anything  of  the 
German  or  Scandinavian  locality  from  which  these  colonists 
came,  as  it  is  common  throughout  Germany  and  Denmark, 
but  especially  on  the  west  coast,  from  Jutland  to  the  south  of 
Holland. 

One  local  name  (Broughton,  in  Domesday  Book  Brocton), 
which  occurs  tlu'ee  or  four  times,  is  apparently  Germanic,  but 
may  have  existed  in  the  Old  Saxon.  The  only  etymon  I  can 
find  is  the  O.  H.  G.  bruoc  (terra  aquosa^). 

Danish  or  Scandinavian  Local  Names. 

The  track  of  the  Northmen,  as  permanent  landholders  in 
the  county,  is  in  the  north-east,  near  the  point  where  the  great 
high  road  from  Yorkshu'c  leads  to  Colne,  and  thence  across 
the  county  and  along  the  whole  of  the  west.  In  the  north- 
east we  find  Balderstone,  Osbaldistone,  Elstone;  and  Ulver- 
stone,  in  the  west.  Stone  is  used,  I  think,  as  the  German 
stein  in  the  middle  ages,  and  denotes  a  house  of  stone  or 
a  castle  f.  It  is  connected  chiefly  with  Danish  names, 
and  implies  that  the  Danes,  like  the  later  Normans,  were 
obliged  to  protect  themselves  by  building  strongholds.  Laund, 
which  is  the  same  as  Lund,  near  Sephton,  and  is  often 
found  in  the  wild  hilly  country  in  the  north-east  part  of  the 
county,  suggests  dark  pictures  of  the  barbarous  and  cruel 
rites  by  which  the  Teutonic  deities  were  propitiated.  It  is 
the  Dan.  lund,  Old  Norse  lundr,  a  grove,  properly  a  con- 
secrated grove,  such  as  the  Teutonic  races,  like  the  idolaters 

*  The  position  of  some  of  these  places,  as  Broughton,  a  suburb  of  Man- 
chester, is  against  the  supposition  that  the  word  is  connected  with  the 
A.-S.  broc  (badger). 

t  As  the  Old  Fries,  stins,  translated  by  Wiarda  (Glossary  to  the  Asega 
Buch),  ein  steinernhaus. 


/  / 


264 

of  the  East,  iiscd  to  set  apart  as  the  scene  of  their  "dark 
idolatiy."  The  Avell-kiiown  Danish  termination  "  by,"  is  found 
along  the  whole  of  the  west  part  of  the  county,  from  Kirkby 
to  Nutcbij  (not  far  from  this  place  is  Lund  Hill),  and  thence 
to  Hornby.  Other  instances  are  Roby,  Westby,  West  Dei'by 
(which  has  given  its  name  to  one  of  the  hundreds),  Sower  by, 
Forinby,  Crosby,  and  Ribby.  Sjjeke  also,  near  Liverpool,  is 
Scandina^  ian.  It  signifies  a  place  where  mast  was  obtained  for 
fattening  swine,  and  answers  to  the  Saxon  Bearo,  and  the  Old 
German  Purr ;  Old  Norse  spika  (to  feed,  to  fatten),  spik  (lard, 
bacon) ;  German  speck.  Another  Norse  word  brecka  (a  gentle 
accli\'ity),  is  found  in  Norbreck,  Warbreck,  S  war  brick,  Tow- 
'  brick  and  Kellbricks,  all  in  or  near  the  Fylde  country.  The 
appearance  of  so  many  names  with  the  same  ending,  in  one 
particular  part,  would  suggest  the  idea  of  related  colonists 
from  sonic  place  or  territory  in  Scandinavia,  but  I  have  not 
been  able  to  find  any  place  with  a  similar  ending  in  any 
country  of  the  north.  The  word  does  not  now  exist,  I  believe, 
in  Danish.  Other  Scandina\dan  names  are  Ormesyill,  near 
Fm'ness,  Ormskirk,  Tarnsyke  (Icelandic  tiUrn,  a  pool  or  lake), 
and  Bearnshaw,  near  Cliviger*. 

The  records  of  Domesday  Book  confirm  the  e\ddence  of  the 
local  names.  We  learn  from  them  that  in  the  north-east  of 
the  county  t,  Ketel  had  four  manors  and  eighteen  carucates  of 
land.  In  Hoogon  (Lower  Furness)  Earl  Tosti  had  four  caru- 
cates. In  Aldringham  Eryiulf,  and  in  Vlarestun  Turulf  had 
each  six  carucates.     These  are  all  Scandinavian  names. 

There  are  one  or  two  peculiarities  in  the  grammatical  stmc- 
tnre  of  the  Lancashfre  dialect  which  resemble  some  Scandi- 
navian forms.  Thus  the  sign  of  the  infinitive,  which  is 
usually  't,  simply,  as  "  hoo  went  'i  bring  it,"  is  as  near  the 
Old  Norse  and  modern  Danish  "  at,"  as  to  the  Friesic  "  to." 

*  Fell  (O.  N.  fiall,  mons) ;  gill  (0.  N.  gil,  hiatus,  fissiira  montium). 
Haitgh,  Hag  in  Ilaggate  (O.  N.  hagi,  pascua)  are  also  Scandinavian. 

t  In  this  part  the  sword  dance,  the  old  military  dance  of  the  fierce 
Vikings,  has  not  yet  been  forgotten.  I  remember  meeting  with  it,  a  few 
years  ago,  in  an  obscure  village  in  the  eastern  jiart  of  the  valley  of  the 
Luue. 


263 

The  word  for  "  must/'  also,  wliich  is  mun  in  all  the  persons 
of  both  numbers,  is  probably  the  Old  Norse  7nan,  mmit,  man 
(Eng.  will),  in  the  Eddas  mun ;  and  the  pronoun  and  conjimc- 
tion  "  that,"  is  generally  "at,''  as  in  the  Norse.  In  the  mo- 
dern Icelandic  mun  answers  to  our  Eng.  "  will,"  but  formerly 
it  seems  to  have  been  more  allied  in  sense  to  the  Eng.  "  may," 
and  probal)ly  also  to  "  musf^."  It  is  not  pecidiar  to  the  Lan- 
cashire dialect,  for  it  is  found  in  Lawrence  Minot  (a.d.  1353)  : 

"  Listens  now  and  leves  me 
Who  so  lives  thai  sail  se 
That  it  mun  be  full  dere  boght 
That  their  galay  men  have  wroght." 

Poem  iii.  Ritsou's  Edit. 

Dialectic  Words. 

Examples  of  these  will  be  given  under  five  heads: — 1. 
Anglo-Saxon  and  Friesian  (Saxon).  2.  Anglo-Saxon  and 
Danish  (Anglian).  3.  Scandinavian.  4.  Words  common  to 
these  classes.  5.  Anglo-Norman.  The  words  Saxon  and  An- 
glian must  be  understood  as  indicating  not  so  much  absokite 
certainty  as  a  high  degree  of  probability,  and  as  including 
only  the  extreme  points  of  the  Anglo-Saxon :  there  was  a 
large  middle  element  common  to  both  Saxons  and  Angles,  and 
also,  in  a  great  degree,  to  all  the  Scandinavian  races. 

L  Anglo-Saxon  and  Friesian. 
(a.)   Differences  of  pronunciation. 
breeost,  hreast,  A.  S.  breost ;  O.  F.  briastf. 

deeop,  deep,  A.  S.  diop  ■  O.  F.  diajj. 

dijel,  deal,  many,  A.  S.  dal;  O.  F.  deil;  Goth,  dailjan. 

fet,  fat,  A.  ^.fiet ;  O.  F.  fet ;  O.  Sax.  fet. 

fest,  fast,  A.  S.  ftest ;  O.  F.  fest ;  O.  Sax.  fast, 

fower,  four,  A.^.feower;  O.F.fiower. 

*  See  extract  from  the  Fareyinga  Saga  in  Latham's  Eng.  Lang.  (|).  2.'^), 
where  Thurir  says  to  Sigraundi,  "  thir  mutit  ratha  hljota"  (thou  mayst  give 
counsel). 

t  O.  N.  01(1  Norse  ;  O.  F.  Old  Friesio ;  N.  F.  North  Fries. ;  O.  S.  Old 
Saxon:  Du.  Dutch;  Sw.  Swedish ;  Dan.  Danish ;  A.S.Anglo-Saxon; 
O.H.G.  Old  High  German;    Fr.  French;   N.  Fr.  Norman  Frencli. 

U 


26G 


yowd,  gold, 

yrund,  groiiiul, 
kersten,  christen, 
leet,  to  let,  to  allow, 

leet,  light, 
lone,  laiie, 

rot,  rat, 
sniook,  smoke, 
strey,  straw^, 

tack,  take, 
Tiseday,  Tuesday, 


O.Y.youd;  Dn.youd;  Sijssant  (salt); 

O.  F.  saut,  and  others. 
A.  S.  yrund;  O.  F. yrund ;  O.  Sax.  id. 
A.  S.  cristnimi;  O.  F.  kerstena. 
A.  S.  laetan ;  O.  F.  fe^«  [let,  to  hinder, 

is  in  A.  S.  lettan,  O.  F.  lettii]. 
A. S.  /f^oA/ ;  O.  Sax.  leoht ;  O-.F.  liackt. 
O.  F.  /owa,  lana,  a  way ;  Du.  lami,  a 

way  ^vitli  trees  on  each  side. 
Du.ro/ ;  A.  S.  rait  (Lye);  (aGvva.ratte. 
A.  S.  smoca;  Du.  smook. 
A.  S.    streow,   streaw;    O.  F.  stre; 

Mod.  F.  5/ne. 
A.  S.  tacan;  Du.  tacken. 
A.  S,  Tm^^ca'  c?(e/7,  the  day  of  Ti^v,  the 

god  of  war;  O.  F.  Tisdei;  North  F. 

Teisdi. 
A.  S.  ivceter;  0.¥.weter,  wetter,  watir. 


loeatur,  waytur,  water, 

(/3.)   Dialectic  words  : — 

blain,  a  small  boil  or  sore,  A.  S.  bleyen ;  Du.  blein. 

blare,  to  make  a  great  noise, 

to  bellow,  Du.  blaaren,  to  bellow. 

Arai(5»/e,  to  quarrel,  to  wrangle,     Du.  brabbelen,  to  jabber,  to 

rattle. 
breeod-flake,   a  corded  frame     K.'^.  breod;  O.  F. /^oA:,  a  jjcg 
hung  up  for  oaten  cakes,  or  stake ;  Du.  vlaak,  a  hur- 

dle for  wool. 
cloof,  a  ravine,  a  hollow  place     A.  S.    clouyh;    Du.    kloof,    a 

among  hills,  split,  a  crevice. 

cocA-e/'ir,  stockings  without  feet,     A.  S.  cocer,  quiver,  case;  Du. 

worsted  gaiters,  koker,  case,  sheath. 

crill,  to  shiver  with  cold,  The  nearest  approach  in  A.  S. 

is  cile,  cold ;  Du.  yril,  sln- 
vering,  yriller,  to  shiver. 

*  And  in  Piers  Plowman's  Creed — 

"  Ne  bedden  swich  brothels  (the  friars)  in  so  brode  shetes 
But  sheten  her  heved  in  the  stre,  to  shar])en  her  wittes." 


267 

crm/:/e,  to  bend  under  a  weigh  t_,     A.  S.  crincan,  to  cringe;  Du. 

to  rumple^  X:n«^e/eWjtoljend,toA\Tinkle. 

crookle,  to  make  crooked,  to     A.  S.  cr?/c,  a  crooked  staff;  Du. 

bend,  kruikelen,  to  make  crooked, 

to  rumple. 
doesome,  dowin,  healthy,  pros-     A.  S.  dugan,  to  profit,  to  be 
perous,  good  for;  O.  F.  duga;  O.  S. 

dug  a. 
fend,  to  seek  a  livelihood,  to     A.  ^.fandian,  to  try,  to  seek 

pronde  the  means  of  living,         for ;  O.  F.  fandia. 
fettle,  to  repair,  to  set  right,  to     O.  F.  fitia,  to  adorn ;    Goth, 
put  in  order ;  s.  state,  con-         fetjan,  to  adorn,  to  trim,  to 
dition  (in  a  good  sense),  arrange;  M.  H.  G.feiten,  to 

form,  to  adorn. 
^mc?er5,  small  pieces,  fragments,    Du.  flenters,  rags,  tatters. 
flyte,  to  scold,  to  jibe,  A.  S.  flltan,   to   dispute,    to 

quarrel;  O.  S.Jlit,  conten- 
tion;   O.  F.  flit,  diligence  (Richtofen),  probably  rather  con- 
tention, rivalry. 
//•ea2^;rm, gossiping (W. Lane),     O.  F.  frowe,  a  female,  a  wife; 

Du.  vrow.  Germ.  frau. 
gather,  a  tub  for  wort.  Either  from  A.  S.gal,  roomy, 

spacious,  or  galan,  to  sing, 
and  the  O.  F.  kore,  a  tub  or 
vessel.  If  the  name  be  taken  from  the  humming  of  the  wort, 
we  have  in  the  O.N.  gal  (cantus),  and  ker  (vas).  The  last 
syllable  is  found  in  the  "bowking-kier"  of  the  bleachers ;  Du. 
beuken,  to  beat ;  Germ,  beuchen. 

^awX:,  a  narroAV  passage  or  foot-     A.  S.  gang,  a  journey,  away 
way,  or    passage;      Du.    gang; 

Germ.  gang, 
gloppen,  to  amaze,  used  chiefly     O.  F.  glupa,  to  look,  to  peep, 
in  the  part,  gloppened,  ama-         to  look  sullenly;  N.  ¥.glupe, 
zed,  astonished,  awed,  to  give  stolen  looks ;    Du. 

gluipen,  to  sneak ;    Germ. 
glupen,    to    look  with  a  sullen    or  malicious  countenance"^. 

*  In  the  Old  Norse  we  have  glapa,  to  look  at ;  glepia,  to  fascinate,  to 
infatuate. 

u2 


208 

To  be  gloppcned,  is  to  bo  confused  witb  a  sudden  surprise  of 

wonder  or  juve,  as  Danic  Gaynor  (in  the  Anturs  of  Arthur), 

wlien  she  met  the  apparition  of  her  mother  in  the  woods  of 

Tarnwathehui. 

(jloor,  to  stare,  T)u.  (jloor,  histrc,  gluuren,  to 

leer,  to  ogle. 
(irudchj,    properly,     skilfully,     A.  S.  yerud,    ready,    skilful  ; 
completely,  Idw.  (/creed;  Germ,  (/erade. 

(/roop,  the  gutter  or  channel     N.  F.  (/roup ;  Dn.  (/roep. 

in  a  shippon. 
hainridf/e,  ha'uiim/,  a  separate     Du.  heining,  hedge  or  wooden 
space  for  cattle  (W.  Lane.),  partition.     Kilian  has  heijn 

(sepes)     and    heynen    (se- 
pire).     ]\Tr.    Brock ett    ex- 
plains the  word,  to  save,  to 
preserve. 
//ef/<://6'5,thesmall  cords  through     O.  F.  hede,  tow;  O.  S.  hede. 
which  the  warp  is  passed  in 
a  loom. 
Idith,  to  invite,  especially  to     A.  S. /a//««w,  to  invite,  tosend 
a  funeral,  for;  O.  F.  lathia,  to  invite, 

to  summon. 
lam,  to  learn,  also  to  teach,        A.S.  /eormara, to  learn,  to  read, 

O.  F.  lera,  to  teach ;    Du. 

leeren,  to  learn,  to  teach ; 

Germ,  lehren. 

preem,  a  comb  used  by  weavers     A.  ^.preon,  a  clasp,  a  bodkin  ? 

to  loosen  the  yarn,  (Bosworth) ;   Du.  priem,  a 

pin,  a  spike ;  Germ,  pfriem. 

prowt,  poor    food,    trumpery     Du.  prut,  poor  food,  as  curdled 

stufl",  milk.     The  word  is  retained 

in  the  A.  S.  preowt-hwil,  an 

insignificant  space  of  time, 

a  moment. 

runye,   a  long  tub   M'ith   two     LowG.  n//?;$/e  (trabale,  furcale, 

handles,  virga);  ^e\^.  ronglte ;  Goth. 

hrugga,    a    rod,    a    wand; 
(Dieff.  V.  hrugga.) 


269 


scale,  to  stir,  to  clear,  esp.  the     A.  S.  scylan,  to  separate,  to 
bars  of  a  grate,  discharge ;  O.  F.  skala  (lui- 

dad   ietta  skalin,   wounded 
or  struck,  implyiug  perhaps  the  loss  of  a  limb)  (Leges  Fris.). 
Grimm  supposes  a  lost  verb  of  the  stroug  conjugation  ski/an, 
skal  (separare).      Richtofen,  Altfries.  Wort.  v.  skala. 
*Aet"e,  a  sHce,  a  round  cut  oft"  a     A.  S.  scyftan,    to   divide,    to 


loaf, 

side,  long,  amj^le,  applied   to 

garments. 
skit,  a  sarcasm,  a  lampoon. 


order ;    O.  F.   skifta ;    Du. 
schijf,  a  round  slice. 
A.  S.  sid;  O.  F.  sid,  deep. 


A.  S.  scitan,  to  dart;    O.  F. 

skiata  (jaculari). 
Dw.krieken,  to  peep;  't  kreiken 

van  den  day,  break  of  day. 
This  word  is  more  nearly  re- 
lated to  the  Du.  slop,  a  blind 
alley,  a  cul-de-sac,  than  to  the  A.  S.  and  N.  F.  slop,  a  frock  or 
upper  garment. 


skrike  o'  day,  break  of  day, 
slop,  a  pocket, 


A.  S.  sHfian,  to  be  firm  or  stift"; 

O.  F.  steva,  stiva. 
A.  S.    stela,    a    stalk    (Jimii 
Etym.) ;  Du.  steel,  a  stalk, 
a  handle. 
A.  S.  trendel,  a  circle;   O.  F. 

trind,  round. 
A.  S.  way,  a  wave ;  O.  F.  weg, 
ivayi,   water ;  O.  Sax.    and 
O.  H.  G.  wag. 
A.  S.    wunian  ;    O.  F.    wona, 
louna;  Germ,  ivohnen;  O.  S. 
ivonon. 
toycaivve,  a' female  calf;  Mr.     In  A.  S.  we  have  civic-feoh, 
Carr  (Craven  Glossary)  has         living  property,  cattle,  as  in 
v)hy,  a  heifer;  a  ivhy  calf,  a         the  O.  N.  yvik-fe  (pecora) ; 
female  calf,  but  the  word  is  more  nearly 

connected  with  the  N.  F. 
quei,  qnie  (juvcnca,  bucula),  and  the  Dan.  qvie,  heifer.  It  is 
probably  derived  from  some  old  root,  signifying  female  (re- 


stever,  sound,  strong, 

stale,    steyle,   a  handle  for  a 
broom  or  tool, 

trindle,  the  w^heel  of  a  barrow, 

weeky,  moist,  wet, 

ivon,  woan,  to  live,  to  dwell. 


i/cn^ 


X- 


M 


270 

taincd  in  our  Eng.  quean),  which  may  have  some  relationship 
to  the  O.N.  qvia  (scchidcrc).  Biorn  (Icelandic  Diet.)  distin- 
guishes between  qvik-fe,  cattle,  and  qvi-fe  (ovcs  lactariee). 

2.  Anglo-Saxon  and  Danish  {Anglian). 

ashelt,  properly,  as  hell,  pro-  This  is  the  Icelandic  or  O.  N. 
bahle,  likely  ;  elder,  sooner,  helldr  (potius) ;  Dan.  heller, 
rather,  rather;  ITpperAnstr.//^>7f/e/% 

halter;  A.  S.  Iiuld,  bending,  inclining;  Suab.  hulden,  a  deeli- 
^dty,  holden,  to  slope;  O.N.  adr  (prius,  antea).  This  form  is 
also  foimd  in  Heligoland,  edder,  sooner;  0.¥.  edre;  A.  S. 
eedre,  immediately. 

barm,  bosom,  barm-skin,  a  lea-  A.  S.  bearm,  barm,  lap  or  bo- 
thern  apron,  som;    Goth,   barms;    Dan. 

barm, 
beetneed^,  a  helper,   one  ap-     A.  S.  bet  an,  to  amend,  to  re- 
plied to  in  distress,  medy ;     Dan.     betiene,    to 

serve;  Germ,  dienen. 
6if^^,  to  build,  A.  S.    byggan;    Dan.   bygge ; 

O.  N.  byggia. 
brattle,  to  spend  money  fool-     A.  S.6/Yw^/iaw,  tomakeanoise, 
ishly  or  ostentatiously,   to         to    swagger;    O.  N.  brutla 
squander,  (prodigere) ;    Upper  Germ. 

brazeln,  brotzeln,  to  revel; 

Sw.protla;  Swiss  brdtleken. 

bruart,  the  rim  of  a  hat,  A.S.  hreord,  a  brim;  O.  Germ. 

prort,  brort ;  Dan.  bred, 
bryed,  to  spread  abroad,  A.  S.  bradan,  to  spread ;  Dan. 

brede;  O.N.  breida. 
6'/ew,  to  starve  for  want  of  food,     A.  S.  clam,  clay,  a  poultice,  a 

bandage;    root-idea,    tight- 
ness or  adhesion ;  Dan.  clemme,  to  squeeze,  to  pinch ;  O.N. 
klemma  (angustia,  res  arctai). 
Ccocket,  lively,  vivacious,  related  to  quic,  quec,  kec,  (ani- 

j  mosus)  in  O.  H.G.;  Dan. 

I  kiek,  hardy,   pert;    Germ. 

\.keck,  lively,  pert,  insolent.  keck;  A.  S.  cue,  cucen,  alive, 

quick. 

*  "He  botneed  a  thousand."' — Piers  Plowman's  Vision. 


271 


crib,  a  pen,  a  manger  or  rack, 
dateUss,  foolish,  silly,  Aveak  in 
body  and  mind, 


diiig,  to  strike  or  knock  about, 
to  reiterate  an  accusation, 

dree,  long,  tedious,  wearisome, 


eddercop,  a  spider, 

fleet,  to  take  the  cream  off  the 

milk, 
fleetins,  curds  of  milk. 
fleet-time,  break  of  day, 

flooze,  fleeze,  small  particles  of 
wool  or  cotton, 

frist,  trust,  confidence. 


yawster,  to  boast,  to  swagger, 


(jlead,  a  kite, 

ylendur,  to  stare,  to  look  in 
amazement, 

kaust,  a  cough, 

kibboes,  long  sticks  or  wands, 


A.  S.  crib;  Dan.  krtjbbe. 

Dan.  dyd  (valor,  vis) ;  O.  N. 
dad  (virtus,  robur),  dddlaus 
(cassus  virtute  animi  et  cor- 
poris) j  A.  S.  deed,  a  deed. 

A.  S.  dencyan,  to  strike;  O.  N. 
denyia  (tundere) ;  Dan. 
dcenge. 

A.  S.  dreogan,  to  suffer;  Dan. 
droi,  lasting ;  Sw.  droja,  to 
delay. 

Dan.  edderkop ;  A.  S.  atter- 
coppa  {atter,  poison). 

A.  '^.fliete,  flet,  cream ;  O.  N. 
fleyta  (supernatantem  li- 
quorem  demere) ;  fleet-time, 
from  the  clearing  off  of  va- 
pours or  gloom  ? 

A.  S.  fleos,  flys,  fles,  a  fleece, 
down;  O.  Germ,  floza; 
O.  N.  flos,  flosi. 

A.  S.  frithian,  to  protect? 
^vns,^  frist  en,  to  protect,  to 
deliver ;  Dan.  friste,  to  per- 
suade, to  entice. 

O.  N.  geistr  (vehemens) ; 
Germ.  (Bav.)  yaustern,  to 
act  with  precipitancy  or 
rashness. 

A.  S.  ylkla ;  O.  N.  gledra. 

A.  S.  yJendrian,  to  swallow,  to 
devour ;  O.  N.  glenna  (dis- 
tendere,  pandere) . 

A.  S.  kwosta ;  Dan.  hoste ; 
O.  N.  hosti. 

A.  S.  cyp,  abeam;  Dan.  kiep, 
a  stick ;  O.  N.  keppr  (fustis, 
rudis) . 


272 

lant,  stale,  iiriue,  A.S.  hIand,\vcmG;  O.^Ji/and 

lite,  a  few,  little,  A.  S.  li/i,  little,  few;   Dan.  lidt, 

lit. 
menseful,    decent,    managing-,     A.  S.  /we/mwc,  human;   O.N. 
thoughtful,  mennskr    (humanus,    capax 

moralitatis). 
mo/^^y,  a  club  for  uniting  small     A.S.     mot,     an     assembly; 
deposits  of  money,  O.  N.  wot  (concursus,  con- 

ventus). 
//cVv,  an  edge  or  rim,  the  peak  of     A.S.  neb,  beak  or  nib;  Dan. 

a  bonnet,  a  piece  broken  off!,         nab,  neb ;  O.  N.  ncbbi. 
neeze,  to  sneeze,  A.  S.  niesan;  Dan.  nyse. 

reaz^y>,  hoarseness  from  cold,       O.N.   lirop,   clamour;    O.  S. 

hrojjun;  Goth,  hropian. 
Simlin,Simbl  hi  [SimneV),  a  rich     A.  S.  Symel,   Shnbel,  a  feast; 
cake  used  on  Midlent  Sun-         O.  N.  Sitmbl  (compotatio, 
day,  hence  called    Simblin         sorbillum) ;    Dan.    simle,  a 
Siuiday.  cake. 

s»ic({/e,  a  greedy,  sordid  person,     A.  S.  snid;  Dan.  snedig,  cun- 
ning, sly ;  Germ,  schnitt  (?). 
suite,  to  blow  the  nose,  A.  S.  smjtan;  O.  N.  snita. 

steigh,  a  ladder,  a  stile,  A.  S.  atcegar,  stair;  Dan.  stige, 

ladder;  (ierm.  steigen. 
swill,  V.  to  wash  or  rinse  a  ves-     A.  S.  sivilicm,  to  wash  or  rinse; 

sel;  s.  scraps  for  pigs,  O.N.  sval  (eluvies). 

sye,  to  drain  milk  through  a        A.  S.  sihan,  to  strain  or  filter; 
syle,    sieve,  to  rain    continu-         O.  N.    sija    (colare) ;     Sw. 

ously.  sila  ;  Dan.  sile. 

tan,  a  twig'^,  A.  S.  tan ;  Goth,  tains ;  O.  N. 

teinn;  Dan.  tane ;  O.  H.  G. 
zeinna. 
t eagle,  a  crane  for  winding  up     A.  S.   tigl;  O.  N.  tigill  (fmii- 

goods,  cidus). 

/te/ic^,  to  light  a  fire,  A.S.    tyndan  ;    Dan.   tmide; 

O.  N.  tendra  (excitare,  ac- 
cendere) . 

*  This  word  belongs  rather  to  Class  4,  as  we  have  ni  Du.  tuin,  a  hedge, 
a  garden. 


273 

threap,  to  argue  with  pertina-     A.  S.  thrcafian;    O.  N.  threfa 

city,  to  reiterate,  to  contend,  (sublitigare) . 

tore,  to  labour  hard  for  a  liv-     A.  S.  teorian,  to  rul)  away,  to 
ing,  to  get  a  bare  livelihood,         wax  faint ;  O.  N.  tora  (mi- 
sere  vitam  trahere) . 
wakes,  the  extremities  of  the     A.  S.  wic,  a  dwelling,  a  bay  or 
lips,    the    corners    of   the         creek;    S.  Goth,   wik   (an- 
mouth,  gulus) ;  O.  N.  vik  (recessus). 

wlierken,  to  breathe  convul-  Goth,  quark,  throat;  O.N. 
sively,  as  from  some  ob-  qverk,  qverka-niein  (angi- 
struction  in  the  throat,  na);      O.  H.  G.      irquepan 

(suffocari) ;     Dan.    qvcelen, 
stifling. 


t'ijt,  order  or  condition  for  the     For  this  common  and  express- 
performance  of  a  task,  ive  Lane,  vrord  1  can  find 

only  the  Goth,  teva,  order, 

arrangement,     disposition ; 

gatevian,  to  put  in  order. 
fey,  to  do  anything  cleverly,        O.  Germ.,  feihan,  crafty;  O.  S. 

fe(/ni. 
fleak,  a  hurdle  made  of  twisted     Germ,  flechte,  basket  of  wic- 
hazels,  kerwork;     Dan.  flette,    to 

t-^-ist. 
gimmer,  a  two-year  old  sheep,     S.  Goth,  gimmer  (Mr.  Brock- 

ett) ;  Dan.  gimmer-lam,  an 

ewe-lamb. 
spur,  a  prop  in  building,         •      O.  H.  G.    sparro    (tignum) ; 

O.  N.  s/?erra  (repagulum). 

3.  Scandinavian  Words  {partly  Anglian). 

harkle,  to  stick  to,  to  adhere;  O.N.  barka   (cutem  induere, 

trans,  to  cover  over,  obstringere) . 

beawn,  bown,  prepared,  ready  O.  N.  buiym  (paratus,  vestitus, 

to  set  off",  going  to  a  place,  maturus). 

brangle,  to  quarrel,  O.N.Z(raw^«(turba,tumultus). 

bunt,  to  take  home  work,  Dan.  bundter,  to  pack  up,  to 

make  into  a  bundle. 


274 

clapcuke,  a  cake  rolled    thin     Dan. /:/rty>,  ablow;  klappebrod, 
and  baked  liard,  thin  cakes  beaten  out  with 

the  hand. 
clutch,  a  brood  of  chickens,         Dan.  klekke,  to  hatch;  O.  N. 

klekkiu. 
elegy  a  clever  person,  an  adept,     Dan.    klog,    prudent,    skilfid  ; 

Germ,  klug ;  O.  N.  klokr. 
cree/,  a  frame  to  wind  yarn  upon,  O.N.  krilu  (nectere,  texere). 
cronk,  the  note  of  a  raven,  O.  N.  krunk  (id.). 

dab,  a  blow,  Dan.  dabe,  a  paving  beetle,  a 

rammer. 
As  an  adj.  this  word  signifies  clever,  skilful;  a  dab  hond,  a 
skilful    ready  workman.     In    this    sense  I  know    no    nearer 
etymon  than  the  Lett,  dabba  (ars,  indoles),  or  the  Lithuaiuan 
dabrms  (pulcher,  lepidus). 
doaije,  wet,  damp,  O.N.  dogg  (pluvia),c?ei//m(ma- 

defacere) ;    Dan.  dugge,  to 

bedew. 
elt,  to  stir  oaten  dough  before     O.  N.  elti,  elta  (insequi,  agi- 

baking,  tare) ;  Dan.  telte. 

fuddle,  nonsense,  trifling,  O.  N.     fudla     (inconsiderate 

tractare) . 
fleak,  to  bask  in  the  sun,  O.  N.  fluki,   planities;    Dan. 

flak,  flat. 

flit,  to  remove  from  one  house     Dan.  flyte,   to  change   one's 

to  another,  abode;  O.'N.flytia  (vehere). 

forelders,  seniors,  ancestors,        Dan. /or«/f/re;  O.N.forelkh'i. 

frum,  tender,   delicate,  easily     O.  N.  fruni  (primitive,  prima 

broken,  proles) , 

(In  Chesliire  "  frim,"  applied  almost  solely  to  young  tender 
grass.) 

gain,  gainer  {a. gainer  way  is  a     Dan.  gienvei,  a  shorter  way,  a 
shorter  way),     ^  cross  cut ;  gien,  contr.  from 

igiennem,  through. 
gar,  to  make,  to  do,  to  compel,     Dan.  giore ;  O.  N.  gora. 
gaioby,  a  clownish  simpleton,       Dan.  gab,  a  simpleton,  from 

gaber,  to  open  the  mouth; 

gab,  to  yawn. 


r 


\ 


275 

^ec^,  a  jest,  a  mocking  sarcasm,     Dan.  giek,  id.;    O.N.  yickr 

(audaciilus) . 
gillers,  lines  of  twisted  hair  for     Sw.  giller,  a  snare ;  O.  N.  gil- 

fishing,  .  dra  (laqueos  tendere). 

glide,  to  squint,  O.N.^/eif/a(distendere),^/ei^/* 

(varus) . 
hanch,  to  bite,  to  snap  at,  O.  N.  hacka  (iterato  nixu  de- 

glutire) ;  Dan.  hakke. 
hanch-appo,  the  game  of  'snap- 
apple,^ 
hetter,  keen,  eager,  as  a  dog  in     O.  N.  hcetr  (prseceps). 

fighting, 
hippin-stones,    stones   at    the     O.  N.    hipp     (saltus) ;     Dan. 

crossing  of  a  stream,  hop. 

kench,  a  twist,  a  strain,  O.N.  kingia  (cervicem  rotare 

vel  incurv-are),  kengr  (cur- 
vatura) . 
kick,  fashion,  mode:    aw   th'     O.N.  ^AricA:  (mos,  consuetudo); 
kick,^  all  the  fashion,  Dan.  skik,  custom,  fashion. 

kind,  to  light  a  fire,  O.  N.  kind  (ignem  alere). 

kipper,  amorous,  lasci\ious,         Dan.  kippe,  a  brothel ;  kippe, 

to  pant. 
laith,  a  bam,  Dan.  lade, 

lam,  to  beat  soundly,  to  chas-     O.  N.  lemia   (ferire) ;    hlomm 

tise,  (fastis). 

/a?ie,  to  conceal,  O.N. /tywa  (occultare). 

late,  to  seek,  "  O.N.  leyta   (quserere);    Dan. 

lede. 
lither,  idle,  lazy,  Dan.  lad,  idle;    liderlig,   de- 

bauched, careless. 
lopper,  to  boil  slowly,  O.N.  lo^n  (tumor  aquosus). 

lurgy,  idle.     The  lurgy  fever,     O.  N.     lur    (iguaA-ia) ;     lurgr 
sometimes    tkurgy -lurgy,  a         (defectus  \'irium). 
cant  word  for  idleness, 
woorf,  satiated,  filled  to  repletion,    Dan.  made,  to  feed. 
neeve,  neyve,  a  fist,  O.  N.    hneji    (pugnus) ;    Dan. 

weve. 


27G 


pluchei',  to  pilfer,  to  steiil  slyly,     Dan.  plukke,  plukker,  to  pluck, 

to  gather. 


ratey,  roixgli  weather,  N.  Lane. 

rostle,  to  ripen, 

scar,  a  steep  bare  rock, 

sutvl,  whatever  is  eaten  with 
bread, 

skellut,  crooked,  awry, 

sky  me,  skyoyme,  to  look  scorii- 
fidlv,  to  be  cold  and  distant 
in  manner,  as  a  purse-proud 
parvenu  to  his  old  friends. 


O.  N.    rata   (incuriosus  ferri, 

irrucre) . 
O.N.  rusla  (i)rodigere),  I'oskna 

(maturescere) . 
O,  N.  skur  (projectura) ;  Dan. 

skier,  a  rock,  a  cliff. 
Dan.  suul,  id. 

O.N.  skcela  (detorquere) . 

O.  N.  skhna  (oculos  circum- 
ferre) ;  skimp  (cavillatio,  ir- 
risio);  Dan.sA'iew/e,tomoek, 
to  scoff. 


slcy,  the  reed-hook  of  a  loom,     O.N.  sledda  (harpe,  ensis  fal- 

catus) . 


stood,  the  track  of  Avheels, 
slunt,  to  be  idle. 


O.  N.  stodi  (callis) ;  slodr  (cal- 
lis,  depressio  rci,  lacuna). 

Dan.  slunt,  negligently,  drow- 
sily ;  sluntore,  idleness ; 
O.N.  slundi  (servus infidus) . 
stiy,    to  turn  up  the  nose  in     Dan.  snoe,  to  tui'n,  to  twist; 

O.  N.  sny,  snua  (vertere, 
flecterc) . 


contempt,  to  affect  dislike, 
whack,  a  heavy  blow. 


O.N. vaka  (glaciem perforare, 

pcrfringere) . 
O^.kvipjp  (saltus,celer  cursus) . 
Dan.  hvcelle,  to  arch  over. 

O.N.  reka  (pellere,  agerc^). 


whip  off,  to  go  off  quickly, 
ivhoave,  to  cover  over,  to  OAcr- 

whelm, 
yai'k,  to  strike  hard, 

*  To  these  may  be  added  a  word  1  have  occasionally  heard  in  my  hoy- 
hood,  tliough  now  obsolete,  thumb-finger.  This  is  perfectly  correct :  O.  N. 
tlmmal-fingr ;  thurna,  incisio  in  res  molliores  pro  mann  a])prehendentis  ; 
fhuma,  talem  incisionem  faeere.  The  tluunb-finger  is  therefore  the  finger 
of  impression,  or  by  which  we  take  hold  of  a  thing,  and  the  separate  parts 
of  this  compound  word,  though  long  divorced,  properly  belong  to  eacli  other. 


277 


4.  Words  belonging  to  all  the  Classes,  (1),  (2),  (8). 
A  few  only  of  these  will  be  subjoined,  as  they  do  not  serve 
to  determine  any  specialty  of  race.  A  complete  list  would 
show  that  there  was  a  closer  relationship  between  the  lan- 
e:nao-es  to  the  north  and  south  of  the  Elbe  at  the  time  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  invasion,  than  noAV  exists. 
botch,  to  mend  clumsily,  Sw.  bota,  to  patch;  O.  S.  bo- 

tian;  O.W.  G.  buazcn. 
cant,  to  raise  up  a  barrel,  to     Du.  kant,  side,  edge;  Germ, 
set  it  on  edge,  kante,  kant  en ;  O.N.  kant  a 

(marginare) ;     kantr    (ora, 
latus) . 
frame,  to  set  about  a  thing,  to     A.  S.  fremman,  to  form,  to  ef- 
show  capacity  in  beginning         feet ;    O.  F.  frenia  ;    O.  N. 
anything,  as   ^'hoo  frames         fremia  (patrare,  facere). 
weel,"  she  liegins  or  offers 
well. 
fremd,  strange,  not  belonging     A.  S.  fremth ;    O.  F.  fremcd, 
to  the  family,  franul;  Germ. fremd;  Dan. 

frem?ned. 
grit,  sand,  -  O.  F.  gret,  sand;  A.  S.  grgt, 

mill-dust;  O.  'N.griot  (saxa, 
lapides) ;  Dan.  grytte,  to 
bruise,  to  grate. 
O.  N.  gdli,  a  fool ;  Dan.  gall ; 
O.  F.  gull  (mitis,  liberalis) ; 
Du.  gul,  soft,  good-natured. 
O.  Y.greta,  to  accost,  and  also 
tomake  a  complaint;  Majso- 
Goi\\. gretan,ioyvee\i;  O.N. 
grata  (plorare,  lacrymare). 
Du.  kitlig,  ticklish;  O.  N.  k'ltla 

(titillare) . 
A.  S.  maca,  mate,  husl)and ; 
O.  N.  maki  (par,  conjux) ; 
maka  (ambirc  conjugem) ; 
Du.  viakker  (socius) ;  Dan. 
mage,  a  mate. 


gull,  a  fool,  one  easily  cheated : 
a  common  word  throughoTit 
England, 

greet,  to  weep,  to  lament;  pret. 
grat, 


kittle,  ticklish,  difficult,  un- 
certain, 

mack,  race,  family,  sort.  Help- 
mack,  a  wife. 


278 

nag-nail,  a  8ore  at  tlie  root  of  A.  S.  ang-neegl;  O.  F.  ongneil; 
a  fiiiger-iuiil  (W.  Lane,  an  Dan.  nag,  gnawing,  also 
ill-tempered  person),  animosity,    spleen;     O.N. 

naga  (mordere,  rodere). 
note:    a  cow  is  said  to  be  of    A.  S.  notu,  use,  iitility;  O.  F. 
good  note,  when  she  gives         not  (id.);  O.N.  not  (id.). 
milk  a  long  time, 
speer,  a  boarded  partition,  a     O.  F.    sper,    spier    (tignura)  ; 
screen,  O.  H.  G.  sparro  (tignum) ; 

O.  N.  sperra. 
uHid,  a  pledge,  a  forfeit,  A.  S.  woid,  wedd,  a  pledge  ; 

O.  N.  ved  (id.) ;  Dan.  vade ; 
O.  F.  wed,  pledge,  forfeit ; 
also  a  promise,  a  compact; 
Eng.  to  wed. 

5.  Norman  French. 

boijern,  to  rinse,  to  wash,  N.  Fr.  buer,  to  wash. 

cale,  time,  turn,  N.  Fr.  cule,  time,  season. 

cank,  to  talk,  to  chat,  N.  Fr.  cancan,  loud  talking, 

noise. 

chieve,  to  prosper,  N.  Fr.  chevance,  goods,  riches, 

Fr.  achever. 

gallimaufry,  hodge-podge ;    a     Fr.  galimafree,  hodge-podge, 
person  whose  dress  is   ill- 
assorted, 

guess,  sort,  kind,  Fr.  guise. 

hog-mutton,  mutton  of  a  year-  N.  Fr.  hogetz,  a  yoimg  sheep, 
old  sheep, 

kales,  keles,  the  game  of  nine-  Fr.  quilles,  pins  to  play  with, 
pins. 

The  word,  and  probably  the  game,  is  due  however  to  the 

Northmen.     Dan.  kegle,  a  nine-pin. 

larjus,  bomity,  Fr.  largesse. 

Ian  got,  lingot,  a  shoe-string,         N.  Fr.  linge,  a  line. 

law*;  in  making  a  running-     N.  Fr.   laie,  relief,  ease;   the 

*  This  word  may  be  from  the  Old  Friesic  lawa,  what  is  left  behind; 
A.  S.  laf. 


279 


match  one  boy  is  said  to  give 
as  many  yards'  law  as  he  al- 
lows his  competitor  to  be  iu 
advance. 

manchet,  a  small  loaf  of  white 
bread, 

maslin,  flour  of  wheat  and  rye 
mixed, 

f/iits,  gloves  vrithout  fingers, 
used  for  hedging, 

muse,  mews,  a  gap  in  a  hedge 
thi'ough  which  hares  or  rab- 
bits pass, 

nyfle,  a  trifle,  a  delicacy, 

pow,  to  cut  the  hair  of  the 

head, 
ratcher,  a  rock, 
tick,  a  kind  of  vermin, 
trewil,  a  trowel, 
varlet,  a  good-for-nothing  fel- 

lOAV, 


N.  Fr.  laie  signifies  also  the 
aid  or  tax  demanded  by  the 
king;  Eng.  lay. 

Fr.  manger. 

N.  Fr.  mesle ;  mesler,  to  mix. 

Fr.  mitaine. 

Fr.  moue  ? 


N.  Yr.nijie,  a  thing  of  no  value, 

a  trifle. 
Fr.  poil. 

Fr.  rocher. 
Fr.  tigue. 
Fr.  truelle. 

N.  Fr.  varlet,  a  valet,  a  ser- 
vant. 


From  this  survey  of  the  dialect  of  the  county,  we  may  draw 
the  following  conclusions  : — 

1.  That  before  the  Anglo-Saxon  invasion  the  county  was 
inhabited  by  a  Celtic  population  of  the  younger  or  Cambrian 
branch  of  the  Celtic  stock;  and  that  a  considerable  number 
of  families,  belonging  to  this  race,  remained  on  the  soil  after 
the  Teutonic  invaders  had  taken  possession  of  it.  From  a 
comparison  of  the  Lancashire  dialect  with  the  dialects  of  other 
counties,  and  from  historical  records  still  extant,  we  learn 
that  this  race,  having  probably  come  from  the  Cimbric  Clier- 
sonesus  over  the  German  Ocean,  held  the  southern  part  of 
Scotland,  the  counties  of  Northumberland,  Dm-ham,  Cum- 
berland, Westmoreland,  the  West  Riding  of  Yorkshire,  Lan- 
cashire,  Cheshire,    and  the  north    part    of  Wales,   with   an 


280 

undefined  boundary  to  tlie  east,  l)ut  extcudinj^'  ecrtainly 
beyoud  tlie  Severn.  Tlie  races  in  the  middle  and  south  of 
Enghind  1)clonf;-od  ai)])arcntly  to  the  ehler  or  (iaelie  branch 
of  the  same  stock;  it  niay  be  confidently  aflirmcd  at  least 
that  there  were  some  tribes  of  this  race  in  England  at  that 
time,  and  that  the  Llocgrians,  related  to  the  Cymry  and  yet 
distinct,  belonged  to  it.  It  appears  from  historical  traditions 
that  the  tribe  of  the  Cymry  held  sovereignty  over  the  rest,  most 
probably  by  conquest.  It  is  also  certain,  from  the  concurrent 
testimony  of  the  Welsh  records,  and  of  the  words  belonging  to 
this  race,  still  spoken  in  the  county,  that  they  were  not 
altogether  rude  barbarians,  but  were  moderately  well  skilled 
in  the  arts  of  life.  A  race  that  can  forge  iron,  and  build  a 
water-mill,  has  taken  at  least  the  first  step  in  civilization. 

2.  It  is  evident  that  among  the  Teutonic  invaders  of 
the  district  there  were  some  from  the  south  of  the  Elbe,  and 
that  they  Ijclonged  to  the  race  now  inhabiting  the  north  of 
Holland.  The  Friesic  language  is  now  only  a  dialect,  and  is 
confined  within  nan'ow  limits ;  Init  at  the  time  when  the 
warlike  bands  of  this  race  joined  themselves  to  the  Saxon 
banner,  it  is  certain  that  both  the  language  and  the  race 
occupied  a  much  larger  part  of  the  country  l)etween  the  Elbe 
and  the  Rhine.  The  invaders  of  England,  then,  in  the  fifth 
and  sixth  centuries,  did  not  come  only  from  the  narrow 
territory  usually  assigned  to  the  Angles  and  Saxons,  but  from 
the  whole  country  between  the  Ems  and  the  territory  of  Jut- 
land. We  know  also  that  the  assertion  of  Bede — that  the 
Angles  peopled  the  north  of  England — is  not  true,  in  an  ex- 
clusive sense,  of  the  county  of  Lancaster,  and  was  probably 
only  designed  to  express  a  numerical  superiority  in  the  north 
of  England  generally  on  the  part  of  this  race. 

3.  The  divergence  of  the  dialectic  words  from  the  main 
Anglo-Saxon  stock  is  greater  on  the  Danish  or  Scandinavian 
side  than  on  the  Friesic ;  and  from  the  evidence  drawn  from 
local  names  and  tradition,  we  infer  that  this  was  due  to  a 
preponderance  of  the  Anglian  rather  than  of  the  later  Danish 
element.  This  class  of  words  is  too  large,  I  think,  to  be 
assigned  to  the  influence  of  the  Northmen,  and  it  is  found  in 


281 

districts  where  we  have  not  only  no  trace  of  the  Dane,  hut 
all  the  evidence  we  have  is  against  the  supposition  that  the 
pure  Scandinavian  races  made  an  extensive  settlement  there. 
If  this  be  true,  we  have  an  additional  testimony  to  the  fact  of 
the  Angles  forming  the  main  body  of  the  inhabitants  of  this 
part  of  England ;  and  the  statement  of  Bede  is  correct,  if 
understood  in  this  sense.  We  may  infer,  therefore,  that  the 
language  of  the  Angles  aj)proximated  at  first  more  nearly  to 
the  Danish  than  did  that  of  the  Saxons,  or  that  their  greater 
nearness  to  the  Danish  territory  had  had  an  influence  upon 
the  language.  It  is  most  probable  that  both  these  suppo- 
sitions are  correct, 

4.  The  local  names  of  the  county  show  that  the  wave  of  the 
later  Danish  invasion  flowed  from  the  north-east  comer  of 
the  county  to  the  west  coast,  and  then  diverged  both  to  the 
north  and  south.  It  is  also  evident  from  the  dialect  that 
these  invaders  were  not  Danes  exclusively ;  for  even  allowing 
that  the  Danish  language  was  then  nearer  to  the  Icelandic  or 
Old  Norse  than  now,  we  can  hardly  suppose  that  it  contained 
all  the  words  which  only  the  Old  Norse  can  now  supply.  The 
most  probable  supposition  is,  that  the  fierce  warriors  who  so 
often  ravaged  the  whole  country  from  the  Thames  to  More- 
cambe  Bay  were  gathered  from  aU  the  territory  held  by  the 
Scandinavian  races.  We  may  also  infer  that  they  were  at 
this  time  idolaters,  and  that  the  awful  rites  celebrated  in 
their  dark  groves  in  the  north  were  repeated  in  Lancashire 
during  the  ninth  century.  Perhaps  no  comity  in  England  could 
ofl'er  scenes  more  in  hamiony  with  the  wild  gloomy  religion 
of  the  old  Vikings  than  those  which  its  bold  bare  hills  and 
bleak  moorlands  would  supply. 

5.  There  is  scarcely  the  slightest  trace  of  the  Norman 
baron  in  the  local  names  of  the  comity,  and  only  a  faint 
e\-idence  of  his  race  in  the  dialect.  I  am  inclined  to  think, 
that  upon  the  whole,  no  county  in  England  felt  the  effects  of 
the  Norman  conquest  less  than  Lancashire.  The  old  records 
of  the  county  give  additional  evidence  of  this  fact.  The 
names  of  the  families  recorded  are  almost  universally  pure 

X 


282 

Anglo-Saxon  with  a  slight  sprinkling  of  Celtic,  There  is  a 
trace  of  the  Norman  in  the  south*,  but  along  the  whole  of  the 
east  and  north  of  the  county  the  Saxon  or  Danish  landholder 
seems  to  have  held  in  peace  the  ancestral  manor-house  he 
had  dwelt  in  before  the  con(|ucst,  and  the  haughty  insolence 
of  the  Norman  was  comparatively  unknown.  We  may  infer, 
therefore,  that  the  race  whose  genius  and  energy  have  swelled 
the  resoTU'ces  of  England  to  so  great  an  extent  is  not  much 
indebted  to  Norman  influences.  It  is  chiefly  of  Anglian 
Idood,  with  a  consideral)le  mixture  of  Saxon  and  Scandi- 
navian, and,  blended  probably  in  an  equal  degree,  \\ith  that  of 
the  Cambrian  race. 


ADDITIONAL  NOTES. 

(1.)  The  Celtic  races  in  England  have  unfortunately  been  made  the 
subject  of  many  groundless  theories,  by  persons  utterly  nuaecjuaiuted  with 
the  Celtic  lan<juao;es  or  Celtic  literature.  1.  It  has  been  denied  that  the 
races  inhabiting  England  at  the  time  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  invasion  were 
Celts  at  all.  2.  It  has  been  maintained,  that  though  called  Celts,  they 
spoke  a  language  resembling  that  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  or  in  other  words 
that  they  were  a  branch  of  the  great  Teutonic  stock.  3.  It  has  been 
asserted,  that  the  race  which  opposed  the  Anglo-Saxons  so  gallantly,  though 
unsuccessfully,  was  simply  a  mixed  race  of  Roman  colonists  and  legion- 
aries, the  original  Celtic  races  having  been  almost  annihilated  during  the 
time  of  the  Roman  occupation  of  England.  The  first  opinion  has  been 
mamtaineil  by  Schloetzer,  Gatterer,  and  other  writers,  botli  in  Germany 
and  France.  The  second  rests  chiefly  on  the  authority  of  Pinkerton,  and 
is  supported  by  a  writer  in  the  Edinburgh  Review  (vol.  1.).  The  last  has 
lately  been  maintained  in  a  Paper  read  lately  before  the  British  Association 
at  Glasgow.  Unfortunate  Celts !  whose  foes,  not  content  with  having 
subjected  them  to  all  the  indignities  of  conquest,  seem  determined  to  deny 
their  very  existence,  or  at  least  their  historical  existence.  Happily  for  them, 
their  ancient  literature  and  the  remains  of  their  language,  both  in  our 


*  As  in  Dunham  Masspy,  Darcy  Lever,  and  a  few  other  places. 


283 

standard  English  and  the  dialects  of  the  country,  prove  beyond  all  doubt 
their  ])osition  with  regard  to  the  great  families  of  the  human  race,  and 
their  right  to  a  jjlace  in  the  history  and  among  the  populations  of  England. 
There  is  not  a  dialect  in  the  kingdom  that  does  not  bear  testimony  to  the 
ethnographical  position  of  their  race,  and  to  the  fact  that  they  remained  in 
large  numbers  on  the  soil  after  the  Anglo-Saxon  conquest.  If  the  authors  yf 
some  of  these  idle  theories  would  only  make  themselves  acquainted  with 
the  Celtic  languages  still  spoken  by  a  large  part  of  their  fellow-countrymen, 
and  then  compare  them  with  the  language  of  their  daily  life  or  with  the 
dialects  of  the  country,  we  should  be  spared  the  exhibition  of  much  learned 
ingenuity  and  folly.  I  will  venture  to  recommend  to  their  attention  the 
scientific  labours  of  Legouidec  and  De  Villemarque  in  France,  and  of 
Grimm  and  a  host  of  "  scholars  "  in  Germany,  who  have  carefully  studied 
the  languages  of  their  country  before  offering  an  opinion  on  the  races  that 
have  ])eoplcd  it.  What  opinion  would  they  themselves  give  of  a  writer 
who  should  ])ronounce  a  dogmatic  theory  on  the  Teutonic  races,  though 
utterly  ignorant  of  Teutonic  literature,  or  of  any  of  the  languages  belonging 
to  the  great  Teutonic  stock?  A  sound  philology  is  one  of  our  best 
media  for  determining  obscure  questions  of  history.  Its  value  in  this 
respect  is  not  yet  sufficiently  acknowledged  in  England,  though  well  under- 
stood by  the  scholars  of  France  and  Germany. 

(2.)  The  local  termination  den  or  dene  must  also  be  added  to  the  list  of 
Celtic  derivatives.  It  is  vmtten  in  Anglo-Saxon  dionu  or  denu;  but 
according  to  Prof.  Leo,  of  Halle,  "  this  word  is  wanting  in  all  other  German 

dialects,  and  is  thereby  in  some  degree  stamped  as  foreign Z)io?j  signifies 

in  Gaelic  and  in  Erse,  every  sheltered  neighbourhood,  whether  protected 
by  the  earth  or  capable  of  affording  covert  in  a  storm — a  valley,  or  what- 
ever is  sheltered  from  illegal  practices  by  any  fence.  The  Anglo-Saxons 
have  adopted  the  word  from  their  Celtic  neighbours  in  both  acceptations ; 
denu  denotes  vallis,  an  enclosed  grove  (like  bearo),  and  the  compound 
denbearo  is  a  tautologous  term,  contributed  by  two  languages  "  (p.  106, 
Eng.  ed.J.  It  is  common  in  Lancashire,  chiefly  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
county :  Todmorden,  Ilaslingden,  Marsden,  Trawden,  Walsden,  and  Dean 
are  instances. 

(3.)  The  Old  Friesic  will  throw  light  on  the  formation  of  our  infinitive 
form  '  to  helj),'  in  Old  English  'to  hel])en' ;  a  form  which  has  not  hitherto 
been  explained  by  our  grammarians.  In  the  Friesic  it  appears  first  as  a 
gerund,  '  to  helj)ande,'  '  to  haldande,'  &c.,  apparently  a  contracted  form 
for  "to  be  helping,"  "to  be  holding,"  &c.;  as  in  the  'Leges  Frisiorum,' 
"  sa  hwer  sa  en  mon  tha  otheron  sin  god  to  haldande  deth  "  (when  one 
man  gives  another  his  goods  to  hold,  or  to  be  holding) ;  it  is  then  con- 
tracted into  the  form  "  haldane,"  the  d  being  omitted,  as,  "  thise  riucht  te 
(to)  hebbane  and  te  haldane  "  (this  right  to  have  and  to  hold),  and  in  this 
form  it  corresponds  nearly  to  tlie  O.  II.  G.  and  A.  S.  forms  in  e7i7>e  and 


284 

anne ;  as  O.  H.  G.  "  ist  ze  sagenne  das  "  (that  is  to  say),  and  A.  S.  "  hit  is 
tiinii  to  rsedanne  "  (it  is  time  to  read,  or  the  time  for  readinj;) ;  and  lastly, 
this  form  is  further  contracted  into  "  haldcu,"  as  "  dat  riucht  bibiutht  us 
to  halden  keyser  Rolf"  (that  law  the  Emperor  Rolf  (Rudolf)  connnanded 
us  to  keep).  The  iuHnitive  form  to  halden,  as  distinct  from  the  proj)er 
infin.  halda,  means  therefore  "  to  or  for  holding,"  or  "  to  be  holding,"  and 
expresses  a  more  concrete  state,  or  the  action  in  connexion  with  the  sub- 
ject, than  the  more  abstract  "  halda." 

The  Old  Friesic  will  also  enable  us  to  trace  other  Old  English  forms. 
Thus  the  use  of  "to  "  in  our  Old  English  literature,  in  the  sense  of  "tho- 
roughly," "utterly,"  corresponding  to  the  German  "zer,"  as  in  "  to- 
breken "  (to  break  in  pieces),  "  to-rende"  (to  tear  up),  &c.  in  Piers 
Plowman's  Vision,  is  found  in  the  O.  F.  tobreka,  torenda,  &c.  The  Old 
English  particijnal  form  "  yclept,"  has  also  a  parallel  in  the  O.  F.  emakad 
(made),  erent  (torn).  It  is  highly  important,  for  the  j)urposes  of  English 
philology,  that  this  language  should  be  more  carefully  studied  by  us,  as  it 
is,  above  all  others,  the  '  fons  et  origo '  of  our  own. 


TRANSACTIONS 


OF    THE 


PHILOLOGICAL    SOCIETY. 

1855. 


NUMBER  1. 


January  12. — Thomas  Watts,  Esq.,  in  the  Chair. 

The  Paper  read  Ayas — 

"  On  the  Latin  Verb  mittere,  its  Origin  and  Affinities ;  and 
generally  on  Verbs  signifying  'to  go ^  in  the  Indo- 
European  Family  •/'  by  T.  Hewitt  Key,  Esq.,  M.A. 

It  would  probably  conduce  to  etymological  accuracy,  if,  in 
the  investigation  of  words,  the  attention  were  given  separately 
to  the  questions  of  form  and  meaning.  At  present,  inquirers 
are  too  apt  to  confine  their  views  exclusively  to  one  or  other 
of  these  considerations,  more  commonly  slaves  to  form  and 
careless  about  the  connexion  of  ideas.  In  the  present  paper 
we  propose  to  commence  with  an  examination  of  the  meaning 
which  primarily  resides  in  the  verb  mittere.  Now  we  believe 
that  '  cause  to  go '  most  closely  represents  the  sense,  whence 
on  the  one  hand  is  deduced  the  somcAvhat  negative  idea  of 
'  to  let  go,'  on  the  other  the  more  active  idea  expressed  in  our 
common  translation  '  to  send ' ;  and  we  purposely  give  '  to  let 
go '  a  precedence  over  '  to  send,^  as  being  on  the  whole  of  far 
more  frequent  occurrence.     As  in  a  former  paper  we  tested 

B 


tlie  true  j)()wer  of  the  ver))  dare*  by  its  compounds,  rather 
than  l)y  tlic  use  of  the  simple  verb,  and  so  claimed  for  it  the 
sense  of  the  more  general  idea  '  put,'  rather  than  '  give,'  rely- 
ing for  exami)le  on  the  power  which  belongs  to  condere,  '  put 
together,  build,'  abdere,  '  put  away,  hide,'  dedere  arma,  '  put 
down  one's  arms,  surrender,'  indere  nomen  and  induere  vestem, 
'  put  on,'  &c.,  so  here  we  give  our  first  attention  to  the  com- 
pounds of  mittere.  Thus,  amittere  never  has  the  meaning  of 
'  send  away ' ;  but  '  to  let  go  from  you '  is  no  inaccurate  me- 
thod of  expressing  the  idea  '  to  lose.'  Again,  demittere  more 
frequently  signifies  '  to  let  down '  than  '  to  send  down.'  For 
example,  demittere  harbam  means  '  to  let  the  beard  grow,'  and 
demittere  se  either  physically  '  to  let  oneself  down,  to  drop,' 
or  figuratively  '  to  loAver  oneself,  to  become  dejected,'  while 
demissus  is  an  equivalent  for  om*  adjective  '  low.'  Remittere 
in  its  ordinary  uses  is  the  opposite  to  tendere,  that  is,  '  to  let 
go  again,'  or  '  to  let  go  back  what  has  been  strained  into  some 
unnatural  position.'  Emittere  is  rather  '  to  let  go  out  what 
has  been  pent  up,'  than  '  to  send  out,'  the  exhibition  of  force 
arising  from  the  negative  idea  of  no  longer  obstructing.  Di- 
mittere  concilium,  '  to  break  up  an  assembly,'  contains  in  itself 
])ermission  to  depart,  rather  than  any  act  necessitating:  depar- 
ture. Thus  the  idea  tallies  exactly  with  the  power  of  ilicet, 
'  you  may  go,'  the  very  word  by  which  an  assembly  was  dis- 
solved.    In  permittere  the  notion  of  '  to  send '  never  occurs, 

*  Sanskrit  scholars  tell  us  that  dare  is  a  different  verb  from  that  which 
enters  into  the  coni])Ouncls,  the  simple  verb  coiTesponcling,  they  say,  to  the 
Greek  SiSw/^i,  Sanskrit  dadami,  and  the  verb  which  enters  into  the  com- 
pounds to  the  Greek  ndrifii,  Sanskrit  dadhami;  and  the  cause  which  has 
led  to  the  apparent  fusion  of  the  two  verbs  into  one  Latin  verb  lies,  accord- 
ing to  them,  in  the  deficiency  of  aspirates  which  characterises  the  Latin. 
We  make  three  objections  to  this  doctrine  of  Sanskrit  scholars.  First,  the 
archaic  forms  perduim,  creduim,  interduim,  as  well  as  induere,  beside  the 
simple  archaic  form  duim,  ])lead  strongly  in  favour  of  a  connexion  between 
do  and  perdo,  &c.  Secondly,  the  root  de-  or  dea-  of  the  words  ridr^fii, 
dea-fjios,  corresponds  in  our  view  to  the  Latin  se  or  ser  of  the  verbs  sero, 
sevi  or  serui,  satum,  situm  or  scrtum,  '  put.'  Thirdly,  do  tibi  in  manum, 
'  I  put  into  your  hand,'  leads  most  naturally  to  the  more  limited  sense  of 
'I  give.' 


whereas  '  to  let  go  entirely/  '  to  leave  altogether  with  others,' 
is  precisely  the  meaning  of  the  verb,  as  in  the  well-known 
phrase  Permitte  divis  cetera.  In  our  English  word  '^  permit/ 
there  is  something  too  positive  for  it  to  be  a  fair  represen- 
tative of  the  Latin  verb.  He  who  permits,  gives  a  sort  of 
sanction,  whereas  joenwi/^o  hoc  tibi  rather  denotes  that  '  I  leave 
the  matter  wholly  in  your  hands,  so  that  wdth  you  will  reside 
all  the  responsibility  for  what  may  be  done.'  In  committer e, 
'  to  entrust,'  we  find  a  similar  union  of  ideas ;  but  there  is  a 
peculiar  use  of  this  verb  Avhich  may  well  be  applied  as  a  test 
for  trying  its  meaning.  We  refer  to  such  phrases  as  non  est 
meum  committere  ut  neylegens  videar,  '  it  is  not  my  habit  to 
run  the  risk  of  being  thought  negligent.'  In  this  and  such 
passages,  committere  seems  to  attain  the  required  meaning  if 
we  start  from  the  idea  of  a  person  letting  a  matter  pass  en- 
tirely from  his  control ;  and  it  is  probably  in  this  Avay  that 
c.  helium,  c.  pugnam  came  into  use.  A  general  who  once  lets 
his  men  commence  fighting,  has  comparatively  little  power  of 
stopping  the  combat.  Promittere  we  would  translate  'to  let 
go  forth.'  Hence,  on  the  one  \\qx\A,  jiromittere  harham,  '  to  let 
the  beard  grow  long/  and  promissa  barba,  '  a  long  beard' ; 
while  that  other  meaning  which  is  represented  by  ovoc  own  verb 
'  promise,'  naturally  flows  from  the  idea  of  divixlging  an  inten- 
tion. To  let  it  go  forth  that  one  will  do  so  and  so,  often 
constitutes  with  a  man  of  character  a  promise  to  do  it.  '  To 
let  go  by,'  is  the  received  translation  of  praetermittere ;  and  for 
intermittere  we  will  first  point  to  a  quotation  in  a  recent  paper 
from  Cato  of  intermittey'e  iynem,  '  to  let  the  fire  go  out,'  while 
the  more  common  uses  of  this  compound  agree  precisely  with 
its  German  equivalent  unterlassen.  The  verb  omittere  was  also 
noticed  in  the  same  paper,  where  it  was  hinted  that  the  initial 
element  was  possibly  a  representative  of  the  Greek  ova.  At 
any  rate  this  verb  is  well  represented  in  meaning  by  the 
Greek  avievai.  Of  its  form  more  anon.  The  use  of  admittere 
in  the  sense  of  committing  a  disgraceful  act,  has  been  duly 
explained  by  Forcellini  on  the  principle  that  "  quijieccat,  scelus 
in  animum  recipit,"  an  interpretation  confirmed  by  the  frequent 
use  oi  in  se  in  this  connexion.     Thus  admittere  scelus  in  se  is 

b2 


'to  let  the  (moral)  filth  coine  to  one/  and  so  'defile  or  dis- 
grace oneself.'  The  connexion  between  cleanliness  or  purity 
and  guiltlessness  is  frequent  in  Ijatin  phraseology.  Thus 
cadus,  '  holy/  is  but  a  participle  of  the  verb  curere,  Avhich^ 
though  used  in  the  limited  sense  of  carding  wool,  had  no  doubt 
at  first  the  more  general  meaning  '  to  clean/  so  that  carcre,  ni 
accordance  ^ith  the  usual  power  of  the  second  conjugation, 
might  well  denote  '  to  be  clean  or  clear '  of  what  is  expressed 
by  the  accompanying  ablative.  We  may  also  observe  that  cas 
or  car,  which  forms  the  base  of  these  words,  is  the  analogue 
of  the  Greek  base  Ka6-,  as  seen  in  Kadapo<i^.  What  has  been 
said  above  implies  that  the  M'ord  sceius  must  ha\  e  had  for  its 
original  notion  '  dirt/  and  it  seems  not  improbable  that  it  is 
represented  in  the  Greek  vocabulary  by  (TKwp  (gen.  o-zcar-o?), 
or  more  nearly  by  that  other  form  to  crKaro<i  which  also  got 
into  use.  Had  it  been  permitted  to  us  to  suggest  the  form 
.that  a  Latin  noun  sceius  would  have  taken  in  Greek,  we 
shoidd  ha\  e  fixed  on  cr/ceo-09,  which  we  should  have  treated  as 
a  deriv  ative  from  ^eS  of  %e^&).  The  letters  /  of  the  Latin,  8  of 
Greek,  and  t  of  English,  not  uufrequently  go  together,  as  in 
lacruma,  SaKpv-,  and  tear  {tuyr) ;  and  in  the  three  verbs  %«-, 
he-,  and  tie. 

Of  course  it  is  not  inteiuled  to  deny  that  '  to  send'  is  often 
a  fitting  translation  of  mittere  and  some  of  its  compounds. 
'  To  send '  in  fact  is  one  of  the  ideas,  only  not  the  leading  one, 
which  is  included  under  the  more  general  phrase  '  to  let  go.' 
Another  is  '  to  put/  and  this  also  is  visible  in  the  Italian 
mettere  and  French  mettre. 

The  form  of  the  verb  mittere  next  claims  our  attention.  Ar. 
the  study  of  Greek  commonly  commences  at  a  later  stage  than 
that  of  its  sister  tongue,  it  ^vas  but  natui-al  that  a  more  philo- 
sophical view  of  the  former  language  should  be  presented  in 
grammars  intended  for  a  more  developed  mhid.  Hence  it  is 
true  for  the  most  part  that  the  genuine  base  of  a  Greek  verb 

*  That  6  of  the  Greek  often  corresponds  to  o-  in  Latin  may  be  seen  in 
the  exain])le  quoted  in  the  preceding  note.  Another  presents  itself  in  the 
comparison  of  the  woi'ds  aes-tus,  aes-tivus,  from  an  obsolete  verb  aes-,  with 
the  Greek  aid-  '  burn.' 


is  exhibited  in  the  grammars  of  German  philologers  with  a 
greater  courage  than  the  writers  of  the  same  country  commonly 
venture  upon  in  dealing  with  Latin  verbs.  We  are  therefore 
only  claiming  for  the  Latin  a  privilege  already  conceded  to  the 
Greek,  when  we  write  fid-,  rep-,  die-,  due-,  scrib-,  nub-,  rather 
than  fid-,  rep-,  die-,  due-,  serlb-,  nub-,  as  the  bases  of  the  verbs 
which  respectively  denote  '  trust,  creep,  say,  draw,  write,  veil.' 
By  this  step  we  gain  an  explanation  of  the  quantity  seen  in  the 
derivatives  fides,  perfidus,  fatidieiis,  malidieus,  judex  jadieis, 
redux  redueis,  edueare,  eonscribiUare,  protmba,  conmbium, 
&c  Secondly,  we  bring  the  several  bases  nearer  to  their 
analogues  in  the  Greek  language,  as  seen  in  the  Greek  iri,d- 
(of  -jreLdoaai),  epir-  (-— epeTr-),  Se/c-  (of  the  Herodotean  aire- 
Se^a),  ypci,(j>-,  and  v£<f)-  (of  vecp  eXr]  and  vecj)-o<;).  On  the  other 
hand,  the  length  of  the  vowels  in  the  imperfect  tenses  of  the 
same  verbs  finds  its  explanation  in  a  principle  long  familiar  as 
a  fact  to  the  Greek  philologer ;  and  the  principle  becomes  an 
intelligible  truth,  when  we  reflect  that  to  lengthen  the  vowel, 
in  other  words  to  dwell  longer  on  the  base-syllable,  is  the 
simplest  possible  metliod  of  denoting  the  character  of  an  im- 
perfect tense,  which  is  only  another  term  for  dm-ation  of  time. 
As  a  friend  from  whom  we  first  heard  this  explanation  truly 
said,  nothing  can  be  more  expressive  than  the  phrase  '  he  came 
creep  ing  along,'  as  opposed  to  the  brevity  of  the  act  ex- 
pressed by  the  aoristic  form,  '  he  crept  in  again.'  Thus  in  the 
Latin  avc  are  right  when  we  gi\c  in  pronunciation  a  short 
vowel  to  repsi,  beside  the  imperfect  repere  or  repo. 

SimOarly  the  final  t  which  presents  itself  in  the  Latin  verbs 
pleet-  and  vert-  has  its  precise  parallel  in  the  Greek  rvirr-  and 
pLTTT-,  which  are  now  habitually  represented  by  the  crude 
forms  TVTT-  and  pl(})-.  Thus  the  two  Latin  verbs  just  quoted 
have  for  their  base  the  syllables  plee"^  and  ver,  the  former  of 
which  is  seen  in  the  Greek  verb  irXeK-,  and  also  leads  to  the 
derived  substantive  pliea-,  whence  the  adjectives  simplici-, 
dupliei-  (nom.  simplex,  duplex) ;  while  ver  has  advantages  for 

*  This  nm^;t  uot  be  interpreted  to  signify  that  ipUc  is  an  ultimate  root ; 
on  the  contrary  we  regard  it  as  a  compression  of  pal-ec-,  of  which  the  base 
is  pal,  as  seen  in  pal-mo,  jinl-um,  or  what  is  an  equivalent,  padof  pandere. 


6 

grammatical  purposes  over  the  lengthened  form  vet't-,  as  ap- 
pearing more  clearly  in  the  derivation  of  the  words  vermina, 
vermis,  versus,  versura,  &c.,  to  say  nothing  of  its  modern  repre- 
sentatives in  our  own  veer  and  ivear  (ship),  the  French  virer, 
and  the  (icrman  wirren.     But  we  must  also  keep  in  view  those 
verbs  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages  which  distinguish  the 
imperfect  tenses  from  the  mere  base  by  the  appearance  of  a 
doubled  consonant,  as  a<paWa),  aKeXkw  of  the  one  langiiage, 
fal/o,  vello,  pello,  tollo,  verro  of  the  other.     If  a^aX  and  o-«;e\ 
with  a  single  liquid  be  accepted  as  the  base  of  the  Greek  verbs, 
then  we  are  justified  in  setting  down  as  the  essential  elements 
of  the  five  Latin  verbs  the  forms  fal,  vel,  pel,  tol,  ver,  whence 
we  deduce  with  greater  facility  the  derived  forms  /also-,  vulso-, 
pepuli  and  pulso-,  tetuli  and  tuli,  and  the  participle  e-verso-, 
'  swept  out.'     The  origin  of  the  letters  which  are  thus  em- 
ployed to  strengthen  imperfect  tenses,  involves  an  inquiry  of 
no  slight  difficidty.     The  writer  is  inclined  to  the  opinion  that 
there  lies  at  the  bottom  of  many  of  the  eases  enumerated  the 
compression  of  a  suffix,  which  may  perhaps  have  had  a  form 
equivalent  to  what  is  seen  in  our  own  verbs  ramble,  grumble, 
whirl.     A  suffix  el  or  some  equivalent  form  is  well  known  in 
perhaps  all  the  members  of  the  Indo-European  family,   as 
haAdng  the  sense  of  '  little,'  and  the  addition  of  it  may  well  add 
the  idea  expressed  by  the  Latin  paulatim,  and  so  fitly  denote 
continued  action.     Such  a  suffix,  el,  would  readily  interchange 
with  its  neighbouring  liquids  r  and  n,  and  in  many  languages 
no  less  readily  with  the  dental  series,  t  of  the  Latin,  r  and  6  of 
the   Greek.     In  this  way  we  woidd  explain  the  secondary 
forms  above  enumerated,  as  well  as  Xafi^avco,  fxavdavw,  ttitvco, 
eLKaOo),  eipjadco,  v€fj,e6co  ;  the  German  wandeln,  ivandern,  &c., 
and  the  English  ivelter,  wander,  open,  reckon,  burn,  mourn,  &c. 
Of  course  to  such  forms  as  fulere,  ducere,  &c.  above  quoted, 
and  others,  such  as  rumpere,  tangere,  Xa/x/3  of  Xa/i^avco,  &c., 
where  no  appended  suffix  presents  itself,  but  rather  a  change 
in  the  body  of  the  root,  what  we  have  been  saying  cannot 
apply.     Here  however  through  the  mere  mechanical  length- 
ening of  the  root  by  an  increase  of  ^owel  or  consonantal 
sound,  we  have  for  the  result  that  the  voice  dwells  longer  upon 


the  base-syllable,  and  so  iu  the  most  direct  manner  denotes 
an  increased  duration. 

The  application  of  what  has  been  said  to  the  verb  mittere 
brings  us  to  a  triliteral  base  mit  with  the  sense  of '  let  go.' 

The  next  idea  wliich  presents  itself  is  the  recollection  that 
in  the  early  condition  of  language,  a  large  majority  of  verbs 
unite  in  themselves  the  double  sense  of  ^an  act'  and  'the 
causing  such  act.'  Thus  'to  fall'  Avith  ourselves  expresses 
what  the  Latm  denotes  by  cadere  and  caedere,  '  to  fall  oneself/ 
or  '  to  fall  a  tree.'  In  a  later  stage  of  language  it  is  found 
convenient  to  have  duplicate  forms,  as  fall  and  fell,  rise  and 
raise,  lie  and  lay.  But  in  the  \adgar  tongue,  which  with  lin- 
guistic inquirers  is  always  entitled  to  respectful  consideration, 
there  still  linger  traces  of  the  older  freedom,  by  which  the 
same  verb  was  used  in  an  active  and  reflective  (miscalled 
neuter)  sense :  '  He  was  laying  on  the  bed,'  '  help  me  to  rise 
this  stone,'  are  phrases  now  condemned  by  the  polite,  but  no 
doubt  well-founded  in  the  early  idiom  of  the  language.  In 
the  uncompounded  verbs  I'uere  and  stare  of  the  Latin,  the 
intransitive  translation  is  almost  the  only  admissible  one ;  yet 
some  of  the  compounds  of  these  verbs,  as  diruere,  proruere, 
and  praestare,  in  the  sense  '  to  exhibit,'  re-assert  a  title  to  a 
transitive  construction.  But  Avhat  we  have  said  of  the  double 
power  of  many  verbs  applies  with  special  force  to  verbs  which 
signify  'to  go.'  The  verb  jSatvoi  for  example,  in  its  first 
aorist,  and  stdl  more  commoidy  the  compounds  of  this  verb, 
exhibit  the  idea  of  '  cause  to  go^.'  Again,  in  our  own  lan- 
guage, what  is  more  common  than  to  attach  an  objective  case 
to  such  verbs  as  'to  walk  (a  horse),  trot  (him),  gallop  (him)?' 
Nay,  the  vulgar  phrase  '  go  it,'  admits  of  justification  as  soon 
as  we  regard  the  verb  as  capable  of  expressing  the  factitive 
idea,  'cause  to  go.'  In  the  French  phrases  'je  m'en  vais, 
nous  nous  en  allons,'  no  other  explanation  can  well  be  sug- 
gested ;  but  they  at  once  become  significant  in  every  element 
when  we  assign  to  them  the  translation  '  I  take  myself  off" ' 
(i.  e.  from  here),  'we  take  ourselves  off,'  for  the  particle  en  of 

*  See  Veitch's  Greek  Verbs,  sub  v.  liaivm. 


8 

the  French,  like  the  hin  similarly  used  in  German  with  verbs 
of  motion,  as  hinf/e/ien,  corresponds  to  the  Latin  inde  or  hinc 
(when  shorn  of  the  enclitic  ce).  "VYe  say,  or  hin  of  hinc,  in  the 
sense  that  this  particle  in  origin  is  identical  with  inde,  for  as 
regards  the  curtailment  of  the  final  letters,  we  have  well- 
knoAvti  parallels  in  the  double  forms  deinde  dein,  proinde 
proin,  &c.,  and  in  utrindc,  beside  its  derivative  utrinque. 
Lastly,  the  Sanskrit  presents  a  very  pertinent  example  for  our 
pui-])ose  in  the  fact  that  the  verb  ir  (p.  210  ap.  Wilson)  sig- 
nifies in  the  Vedas  'to  go,'  and  in  the  Classic  Sanskrit  'to 
send.' 

The  question  then  which  we  wish  to  ask  is,  whether  a  verb 
mit  in  the  sense  '  to  go'  be  producible  ?  Before  we  ansAver 
this  question  we  would  first  observe,  that  as  the  verbs  which 
express  the  simplest  and  the  most  essential  ideas  are  appa- 
rently for  that  very  reason  the  most  irregidar  in  form,  so 
amid  such  irregularities  the  verb  'to  be'  occupies  the  most 
prominent  place,  and  after  that  the  verbs  which  signify  '  to  go.' 
In  the  second  volume  of  the  Society's  Proceedings  (p.  143), 
there  commences  a  paper  on  this  verb,  go,  &c.,  the  whole 
of  which  bears  upon  the  present  question ;  and  some  parts 
so  directly,  that  we  may  be  permitted  to  make  one  or  two 
quotations.  After  arguing  for  the  identity  of  the  Italian 
andare  and  French  aller,  from  the  convertibility  of  the  con- 
sonants by  which  they  are  distinguished,  we  obsein^ed  : — 

"  The  identity  of  andare  and  aller  is  strongly  confirmed  by 
their  similar  position  in  the  two  tenses  of  the  Italian  and 
French  languages,  viz.  vado  or  vo,  vai,  va;  andiamo,  andate, 
vanno ;  and  vais,  vas,  va ;  allons,  allez,  vont.^^ 

We  fiirther  contended  theoretically  for  a  pro^dncial  vandere  in 
Latin  as  a  variety  for  the  ordinary  form  vadere,  on  the  evidence 
of  such  doiil)le  forms  as  tangere  axvA  tagere,  'to  touch';  and 
then  claimed  the  German  verbs  wander-n  and  ivandel-n  as  deri- 
vatives from  our  roof^.     AVe  further  contended  for  the  sub- 

*  This  argument  derives  much  strength  from  the  fact  that  a  provincial 
verb  wad-en  '  to  go  '  (Gothic  watan)  occurs  in  the  '  Niederdeutsche  geist- 
liche  Lieder  und  Spriiche  aus  dem  Miiusterlande,'  edited  by  B.  Holscher  of 
Miinster.     See  Kuhn's  Zeitschrift,  vol.  iv.  p.  227. 


9 

stantial  identity  of  the  roots  in  vais  and  allons  of  the  French, 
and  in  vado  and  andiamo  of  the  Italian,  and  accounted  for  the 
loss  of  the  initial  digamma  partly  on  the  general  tendency  of 
this  sound  in  some  dialects  to  disappear,  as  in  Andalusia  for 
Wandalusia,  the  fuller  form  being  still  retained  in  the  Arabic 
name  for  the  peninsula,  Wandaluz ;  and  further  we  pointed 
out  that  the  longer  forms,  such  as  andiamo  and  allons,  could 
better  dispense  with  the  initial  v  than  the  shorter  forms  vais 
and  vo,  &c.  Attention  was  also  drawn  to  the  close  resem- 
blance between  the  stem  va  and  ^a  of  the  Greek  ^aivco,  while 
the  n  of  the  longer  base  /Sav  was  so  far  paralleled  by  the  Nea- 
politan variety  atiare  '  to  go '  in  place  of  andare. 

In  the  same  paper  it  was  contended  that  the  base  ga,  as  ex- 
hibited in  the  Old  German  \exhgam,  gas,  gat  (Grimm,  i.  868), 
'  I  go,'  &c.,  and  in  the  Scotch  gae,  was  an  equivalent  for  the 
Italian  va  and  Greek  ^a.  Neither  would  we  abandon  all 
claim  to  the  base  fxa,  which  appears  to  have  had  for  an  early 
meaning  '  seek,'  and  so  in  meaning  agrees  with  the  Latin  pet, 
of  which  hereafter  ;  nay,  in  aurofMaro-  '  self-moving,'  we  have 
precisely  the  meaning  we  desire  to  find.  Again,  not  far 
removed  in  form  from  ga  is  the  Sanskrit  verb  hd  '  go'  (226, 
Wilson) . 

But  while  we  admit  /3a  rather  than  ^av  to  be  the  earlier 
form  of  the  Greek  verb,  we  must  not  leave  the  forms  which 
have  a  nasal  ending  unconsidered.  So  by  the  side  of  the 
base  va  we  place  the  Sanskrit  jjhan  '  go'  (185,  Wilson) .  If  we 
were  correct  in  claiming  the  Greek  fjua  '  seek,'  with  still  more 
certainty  we  may  include  the  root  men  of  the  French  mener, 
in  which  the  factitive  form  '  cause  to  come  or  go '  presents 
itself,  and  as  a  consequence  the  reflective  pronoun  is  required 
in  se  promener.  The  Breton^  infin.  mont '  to  go,'  has  in  the  /  a 
suffix  of  the  mood,  so  that  mon  is  the  base.  With  an  initial 
guttural  we  have  Sanskrit  gam  (172,  Wilson),  and  the  Scotch 
gang,  which  is  also  seen  in  om-  own  gangway  and  the  Ger- 

*  Let  not  offence  be  taken  at  the  introduction  of  this  Breton  verb,  for 
its  affinity  to  the  classical  languages  is  established  in  a  manner  somewhat 
startling  when  we  fin<l  in  its  conjugation  eat  '  let  him  go,'  eant  '  let  them 
go,'  and  in  the  indicative  (ez)  cont  'they  go.' 


10 

man  ge-gang-en.  Lastly,  in  the  Neapolitan  anare  we  have  a 
base  an  without  any  initial  consonant,  and  something  similar 
in  the  diminutival  amb-ulare. 

We  will  next  look  to  those  varieties  which  end  in  a 
dental  mute  t,  d,  or  th,  still  retaining  the  voavcI  a.  We  find 
in  the  Greek  language  ^ar  and  ^aQ  for  the  base  whence 
'XakKo-jBar-ecT-  Svith  a  floor  of  bronze/  and  ^a0-/u,o-  'a  step/ 
fiad-po-  (ncut.)  '  a  base/  The  Latin  gives  us  vad  in  vadere, 
the  Sanskrit  pad  (233,  271,  Wilson),  while  the  Gothic  has 
wat-an,  and,  as  before  noticed,  a  provincial  dialect  still  spoken 
in  Germany  has  wad-en.  Lastly,  the  Sanskrit  gives  us,  devoid 
of  an  initial  consonant,  at  (166,  Wilson).  In  the  French 
mener  we  found  the  weaker  vowel  e  in  place  of  an  a.  Do  the 
forms  ending  in  a  dental  also  admit  this  vowel  ?  to  which  the 
answer  is,  that  we  find  sometimes  an  e,  sometimes  an  i. 
Thus  a  favourite  variety  with  Plautus  is  bitere  'to  go,'  the 
base  of  which  may  be  either  bet  or  bU ;  and  though  it  may  be 
difficult  to  produce  many  instances  of  the  simple  verb,  yet 
compounds  as  perbitere,  adbitere,  interbitere,  &c.  are  common. 
The  familiar  change  from  the  lip-letter  b  to  the  lip-letter  m 
brings  us  to  met  and  mit,  of  which  we  have  already  spoken  at 
length  in  reference  to  the  Latin  mittere,  Italian  mettere,  and 
French  niettre.  In  a  similar  way  we  are  led  to  the  consider- 
ation of  pet-ere,  commonly  translated  '  to  seek,'  but  as  we 
think  more  correctly  '  to  go.'  It  is  true,  that  when  an 
accusative  follows,  the  idea  '  to  seek '  is  well  established,  but 
then  it  is  the  case  which  supplies  the  idea  of  '  to, '  and  the 
combination  'to  go  to'  is  closely  akin  to  that  of  'seeking.' 
But  in  the  plu'ase  ver  appetebat,  '  spring  was  approaching,'  the 
notion  of  '  to  go'  or  '  come'  is  clearly  seen.  Again,  oppetere 
mortem  is  a  precise  equivalent  for  obire  mortem.  Repetere  fon- 
tem  cannot  be  more  idiomatically  translated  than  by  '  go  back 
to  the  source.'  Competere  is  '  to  go  or  come  together,'  '  to  fit 
exactly,'  and  so,  as  was  to  be  expected,  nearly  an  equivalent 
for  convenire ;  while  the  simple  petere  can  admit  of  no  other 
translation  than  '  to  go'  in  such  combinations  as  petere  iter  in 
Cic.  and  Liv.,  and  alium  cursum  petivit,  '  he  has  gone  another 
road,'  in  Cic.     Again,  praepetere  has  anteire  for  its  translation 


11 

in  Festus.  So  far  we  have  looked  only  to  the  verb  petere  and 
its  compounds ;  but  there  are  several  derived  forms,  the  con- 
sideration of  which  will  probably  add  strength  to  our  assertion. 
The  ad^. perpetuo-  signifies  'going  all  the  way/  and  so  'con- 
tinuous/ '  imbroken/  Praepet- '  going  ahead/  '  going  forward/ 
is  a  suitable  epithet  for  a  bird  of  good  omen ;  and  we  have  a 
word  of  kindred  form  and  sense  in  propitio-.  Our  verb  again 
enters  into  the  formation  of  hospet-,  the  first  syllable  of  which  is 
identical  with  that  which  appears  in  hosti-,  and  probably  no 
other  than  the  word  05^  {oris).  We  may  here  also  notice  the 
substantive  impetu-  'going  against,  collision,  blow/  although 
the  t  here  rather  belongs  to  the  suffix  tu  than  to  the  base  of 
the  verb.  As  we  closed  our  preceding  series  mth  instances 
in  which  the  root  begins  with  a  vowel,  so  here  we  have  good 
authority  for  a  base  et  or  it,  in  it-er  '  a  road,'  and  in  the  nu- 
merous family  of  adjectives,  com-it-  [comes),  ped-it-,  equ-it-, 
al-it-,  am-it-,  &c.,  as  well  as  in  the  substantives  in-it-io-, 
ex-it-io-\.     But  the  weak  vowels  i  and  e  are  often  found  in 

*  A  word  or  two  may  be  useful  iu  support  of  this  assertion.  As  regards 
form,  OS  {oris)  is  of  course  akin  to  ostium,  as  ])roved  by  the  equivalence  of 
the  phrases  os  Tiberis  and  ostium  Tiberis ;  to  say  nothing  of  the  parallel 
relation  between  os  (ossis)  and  oareov.  Now  ostium  appears  at  times 
with  an  initial  aspirate  (see  Wagner's  Virgil  and  Gruter's  Inscr.).  The 
French  too  has  deduced  from  os  and  ostiarius  the  forms  huis  '  a  door ' 
(a  huis  clos)  and  huissier.  Then  as  regards  meaning,  the  close  intimacy 
between  words  signifying  'a  door'  and  those  signifying  'a  mouth'  has 
been  often  noticed ;  and  the  passage  from  the  idea  of  '  a  door  '  to  that  of 
being  '  abroad '  is  also  familiar,  at  any  rate  to  the  Latin  scholar  in  the 
[)hrases /or«s  ire,  foris  esse.  Nay,  the  words /ora-  (obsol.)  and  fori-  'a 
door,'  it  is  well  known,  claim  kin  with  the  roots  of  os  (oris)  and  ostium 
{hostium),  the  interchange  between/  and  h  being  a  matter  of  notoriety, 
especially  on  Italian  soil.  This  interchange  in  the  present  instance  has  also, 
as  has  been  often  remarked,  the  support  of  the  double  forms  in  Old  French 
hors  de  combat  and/brs  de  combat. 

t  We  may  here  state  that  we  are  disposed  to  divide  omit-  of  omittere  by 
placing  a  hyphen  after  the  m,  om-it-,  so  that  om  should  represent  av  of 
the  Greek  preposition  ava.  This  will  be  regarded  no  doubt  by  some  as  the 
excess  of  boldness.  In  defence  of  the  change  thus  exhibited  in  the  first 
syllable,  we  may  notice  that  x^""  of  the  Greek  x^'^"  appears  as  hum  in 
humus  and  humilis.  So  fav-^ii-  and  av-ep-  '  num,'  of  which  fav  is  the 
cs.scntial  base  (and  not,  as  Sanskrit  scholars  would  insist,  vtp),  correspond 


1  '> 

representatives  of  our  verb  whicli  arc  wholly  devoid  of  a  final 
eonsonant.  Tims  we  have  bi  in  am-bi-re,  am-bi-tu- ;  me  in 
mcare,  comuware,  romeare ;  vi  in  vi-a  (also  vea)  '  a  way/  as 
well  as  in  the  Sanskrit  vi  (218^  Wilson),  pe  in  the  above- 
(luoted  im-/>e-^?/-,  i  in  tlie  Sanskrit  i  (167,  201),  Wilson),  i  (221), 
Wilson),  i  or  e  in  the  Latin  eo  ire,  in  tbc  Greek  eifMi  tevai. 

As  our  root  lias  already  appeared  in  these  lists  Avith  a  final 
H  and  a  final  d,  we  may  naturally  look  for  the  eombination  nd 
whicli  should  be  regarded  as  only  a  strengthened  form  of  one 
or  f)tlicr  of  these  eonsonants.  Accordingly  we  have  the 
German  wand-er-n  and  wand-el-n,  Danish  vandre,  and  Swe- 
dish vandra  'to  Avalk,'  English  ivend  [diwA  loent) ,  Ital.  andare. 

But  as  d  itself  is  freely  convertible  with  /,  so  also  is  the 
combination  nd.  Hence  we  find  the  Breton  bal-a  '  to  go,'  the 
German  wall-en  'to  go'  (now  nearly  obsolete),  our  own  wal  of 
ival-k  (in  which  the  k  is  evidently  a  mere  suffix),  the  root  //,eX  (?), 
whence  the  aorist  fidkeiv^  and  the  compound  avTOfioXo-,  per- 
haps also  fjueWo),  which  used  like  our  own  phrase  '  I  am  going,' 
miglit  well  become  an  auxiliary  verb  for  the  expression  of  a 
future.  In  the  Latin  call-i-  '  a  path '  and  the  Italian  galleria 
'a  long  passage  for  walking,'  we  come  again  upon  the  gut- 
tural ;  and  lastly,  with  an  initial  vowel,  we  have  the  French 
uller  and  allee,  whence  om'  own  alley. 

We  may  observe  too  that  a  guttural  suffix  seems  to  present 
itself  in  the  German  verb  gch-en,  and  in  the  German  sub- 
stantive weg,  whence,  and  not  from  via,  our  own  way. 

In  the  preceding  series  we  purposely  omitted  the  substan- 
tives gait  and  gate  from  the  list  in  which  the  base  of  the  verb 
takes  a  final  dental,  because  t  in  these  words  is  probably  the 

to  uom  and  horn  iu  the  Italian  and  Latin  uom-o  and  hom-on-.  And  again 
in  mem-or  the  first  syllable  seems  to  have  replaced  an  older  mew-.  Lastly, 
it  is  not  altogether  foreign  to  our  argument  that  a  final  m  in  Latin  so  ge- 
nerally corresponds  to  a  Greek  v. 

*  The  actual  form  fiefj.l3\(0Ka  and  the  theoretic  ^Xcoctkco  may  be  admitted 
without  detriment  to  what  has  been  said.  As  our  own  know  is  a  secon- 
dary form  of  ken,  so  yva-  of  yvu)(TK(o  must  be  a  compression  of  yfc-co-,  in 
w'hich  yfv  represents  our  ke7i.  Similarly  ^Xaj-o-Kco  has  in  its  first  syllable 
a  compression  of  fjLoXco-,  itself  well  entitled  to  be  regarded  as  a  secondary 
form  or  derivative  of  /neX-. 


18 

remnant  of  a  suffix,  hy  virtue  of  which  they  become  substan- 
tiA-es,  as  in  our  own  gift,  thrift,  the  German  ankunft,  schrift, 
&c.  Neither  did  we  inch;de  irehov  and  TreStov,  because  in 
these  words,  as  in  our  own  field,  we  see  rather  the  notion  of  a 
flat  plain,  and  so  prefer  to  connect  them  with  pando,  pateo, 
and  TreTavvvfii.  But  on  the  other  hand  we  are  possibly  en- 
titled to  claim  kindred  for  ped-  and  ttoS-  'foot';  and  more 
certainly  for  vadum,  which  has  often  erroneously  assigned 
to  it  as  its  primitive  meaning  the  idea  of  '  water,'  when  on  the 
contrary  it  means  '  the  bottom,'  as  will  readily  be  seen  in  the 
examples  of  Forcellini,  notwithstanding  his  bias  in  the  other 
direction.  Similarly  the  Greek  irar-o-,  Engl,  path,  and  Germ. 
pfad,  seem  to  have  in  the  dentals  what  belonged  already  to 
the  verbs  whence  they  are  derived,  just  as  we  see  a  dental  in 
the  Sanskrit  pad  and  Latin  pet.  The  German  bahn,  on  the 
other  hand,  has  probably  a  \irtual  suffix  in  its  nasal.  As  for 
the  Latin  words  via  and  iter,  they  are  evidently  formed  by 
suffixes  already  familiar  in  fug-a  and  tub-er. 

In  dealing  with  the  plrrase  admittere  in  se  scelus,  we  gave 
to  the  verb  mittere  the  notion  of  '  let  come '  rather  than  '  let 
go' ;  but  this  variety  of  meaning,  so  far  as  it  may  be  fairly 
called  variety,  is  shared  by  the  verb  ire,  and  especially  by  some 
of  its  compounds,  as  adire  and  redire.  Thus  the  simple  verb 
is  so  used  in  the  well-known  passage  of  Terence  : — "  Aliquid 
monstri  alunt ;  ea  quoniam  nemini  obtrudi  potest,  itur  ad  me." 
So  in  the  Ad.  II.  2.  24,  we  have  ubi  rediero  (scil.  hue),  nihil  est, 
refrixerit  res.  On  this  principle  it  is  but  reasonable  to  ask, 
whether  in  a  series  which  already  contains  the  Sanskrit  gam 
and  Scotch  gang,  we  ought  not  also  to  include  our  own  come ; 
and  with  come,  if  admitted,  the  Latin  ven  or  veni  will  also 
claim  the  right  of  entrance,  which  through  the  Gothic  or  Old 
German  quim-an,  perf.  qvam  or  quam,  claims  kindred  with  our 
come. 

From  the  strong  tendency  to  interchange  which  subsists 
between  the  sounds  n,  nd,  d  (/),  and  /,  we  are  decidedly  of  the 
opinion  that  the  final  letters  of  /3a j/  {^acvco),  men  (of  mener, 
Fr.),  wend,  vad  {vadere),bet  {o^  bitere) ,  pet  {oi petere) ,  mit  (of 
mittere),  bat  fof  Breton  bula),  /MeX  (of  fioXeiv,  &c.),  wal  (of 


14 

Germ,  loallen,  Eiig.  walk),  li.ivo  ^yllat  is  s\il)staiiti:illy  one  and 
the  same  suffix.  On  tlic  otlicr  hand,  we  also  regard  the  crude 
forms  which  end  in  a  vowel  a,  viz.  ba,  ga,  va,  /jlo,  ha,  as  equi- 
valents to  each  other,  representing  the  fundamental  verb,  from 
which  those  which  end  in  the  letters  n,  nd,  d,  t,  I,  are  deri- 
vatives. Thirdly,  wc  are  somewhat  inclined  to  believe  that 
those  which  seem  to  exhibit  a  radical  verb  ending  in  a  weak 
vowel  i  or  e,  are  but  corruptions  from  some  of  the  secondary 
verbs  just  enumerated,  so  that  bi  of  anibire,  for  instance, 
should  be  regarded  as  a  degraded  form  of  bit,  and  i  of  ire  as 
having  also  supplanted  it-.  Nay,  in  the  derivation  of  bit  or 
bet  from  ba,  the  change  of  vowel  is  probal)ly  due  to  that  prin- 
ciple of  attraction  called  '  umlaut,'  by  which  the  weak  vowel 
of  a  suffix  modifies  a  preceding  strong  vowel.  This  it  is  true 
presumes  that  bit  or  bet  is  itself  a  degraded  form  from  biti  or 
beti.  For  such  a  theory  we  have  some  confirmation  in  the 
cases  of  the  Latin  bases  pet  and  ven,  the  former  of  which 
distinctly  exhibits  an  i  in  petivi,  petitus,  petitor ;  and  the  latter 
in  the  imperfect  tenses  venire,  venio,  veniebam,  &c."^ 

As  regards  the  initial  consonants,  the  liji-letters  of  /Sa,  va 
and  ma  present  no  difficulty.  Again,  that  ga  and  va  should 
interchange  is  also  in  accordance  with  well-known  facts;  nor 
is  it  a  strange  matter  to  find  a  v  passing  into  a  iv  {watan, 
wandeln),  or  a  digamma  into  a  mere  aspirate,  as  in  the  San- 
skrit ha,  or  even  disappearing  altogether,  as  in  andare,  alter. 
Hence  the  Greek  verbs  eifii  *  I  go '  and  Itjijh  '  I  let  go,'  which 
in  their  bases  have  no  difference  but  that  of  the  aspirate,  may 
fairly  be  regarded  as  substantially  identical ;  and  this,  com- 
bined Avith  what  has  been  said  above,  leads  to  the  result  that 
mitto  and  ly^fii  are  equivalent  in  form  (setting  aside  the  redu- 
plication of  the  latter)  as  well  as  in  meaning. 

We  wish  no  difficidty  to  be  concealed,  and  therefore  at 
once  put  forward  an  admission,  that  avc  claim  as  akin  to  each 
other  all  the  three  varieties   (usually  attributed  to  separate 

*  In  the  same  way  the  umlaut  sound  which  occurs  in  quaer-  of  quaero 
seems  to  imply  an  older  base  quaesi-,  which  would  account  for  quaesivi, 
quaesitus,  quaesitor. 


15 

origins)  which  appear  in  the  conjugation  of  the  French  verb, 
aller,je  vais,  andj'irai.  In  like  manner  we  hesitate  not  to 
claim  a  common  origin  for  the  several  parts,  however  dissimilar 
to  the  eye,  of  the  Breton  verb,  which  has  mont  for  its  infinitive, 
while  the  present  tense  of  the  indicative  is  ann,  ez,  a,  eomp,  it, 
eoFiL  Thus  we  steadily  adhere  to  the  principles  according  to 
which  we  held  that  good,  better,  best,  and  well,  as  also  is,  was, 
and  be,  respectively  belong  to  a  common  stock. 


16     • 
TRANSACTIONS 


OF  THE 


PHILOLOGICAL     SOCIETY. 


1855.— No.  2. 

January  26, 
Professor  Key  in  the  Chair. 


The  following-  Paper  was  read  : — 

"  On  Roots  mutually  connected  by  reference  to  the  term  Z?^- 
zag  -j'^  by  Hensleigh  Wedgwood,  Esq. 

The  sound  of  a  blow  is  represented  in  Spanish  by  the  syl- 
lable zis  !  or  zas  !  and  the  sound  of  repeated  blows  by  the 
compound  ziszas  !  in  Portviguese  zas-tras  !  corresponding  to 
E.  tkwick-thwack  !  The  image  fundamentally  represented  by 
zigzag  seems  nearly  the  same  as  that  belonging  to  the  Sp. 
ziszas,  with  perhaps  a  more  general  tendency  to  a  conception 
of  the  blows  as  being  made  by  a  sharp  instrument.  Then  as 
blows  repeated  in  rapid  succession  are  naturally  given  alter- 
nately from  right  to  left  and  left  to  right,  the  term  is  applied 
to  motion  sharply  alternating  in  directions  transverse  to  each 
other,  to  a  line  sucb  as  would  be  drawn  by  a  succession  of 
strokes  inclined  to  each  other  at  an  acute  angle. 

In  support  of  such  a  view  of  the  primary  image  represented 
by  the  terra  zigzag,  the  directly  expressive  character  of  which 
is  universally  felt,  we  cannot  indeed  in  English  produce  the 
very  element  zig  or  zag,  signifying  the  kind  of  action  in 
which  we  suppose  the  idea  of  the  zigzag  form  to  take  its  rise, 
but  the  corresponding  root  zick  or  zack  is  extant  in  German, 
and  a  long  series  of  neighljouring  forms  may  be  pointed  out  in 


17 

all  the  European  languages  in  which  the  initial  z  is  exchanged 
for  letters  into  Avliich  the  former  consonant  readily  passes. 
Perhaps  the  most  central  form  that  can  be  taken  is  the  E. 
jag,  which  on  the  one  hand  passes  (by  the  omission  of  the 
sound  of  the  Fr.  j  involved  in  om*  pronunciation  of  the  same 
consonant)  into  dag,  tag,  tack,  stack,  and  on  the  other  into 
gag,  kag,  skag,  shag ;  and  it  will  be  the  object  of  the  present 
paper  to  investigate  the  development  of  meanings  originating 
in  the  idea  of  sudden  thrust,  suddenly  checked  or  rapidly 
alternating  action,  represented  by  the  foregoing  syllables  and 
theu'  immediate  modifications.  From  these  fundamental  images 
the  train  of  thought  will  very  generally  be  found  to  pass  to 
the  representation  of  a  bodily  projection,  of  a  point  or  pointed 
object,  an  mievenness  in  a  superficial  or  linear  body,  a  tooth, 
notch,  cog ;  or  again,  the  pointed  object  may  itself  be  consi- 
dered as  the  implement  of  stabbing  or  thrusting,  stopping  a 
hole,  supporting,  propping.  If  the  substance  to  which  the 
projection  belongs  be  of  a  soft  nature,  the  projection  will  hang 
doA\Ti  instead  of  standing  up,  whence  the  notion  of  dangling, 
swinging;  of  a  dangling  body,  bob,  cluster.  It  is  not,  of  course, 
to  be  supposed  that  the  complete  train  of  thought  by  which 
any  particiUar  signification  is  connected  with  the  original  idea 
will  be  found  in  the  case  of  every  form  of  the  root,  but  the 
evidence  is  of  a  cumulative  natm-e,  and  the  principal  steps  of 
the  process  will  be  found  repeated  imder  so  many  forms,  that 
there  can  rarely  be  a  difficulty  in  supplying  any  step  that  may 
be  wanting  from  a  sister-form.  The  connexion  of  the  forms 
J^[fyJ(^[/>Jog,  with  zigzag,  may  be  illustrated  by  the  Polish  pro- 
nunciation of  the  theme,  zygzag,  i.  e.  jygzag  (with  a  French  j). 
To  jag  is  explained  by  Jamieson  'to  job'  (that  is,  to  strike 
with  a  pointed  instriunent),  'to  prick,  to  pierce.'  Hence  a 
jag,  a  projecting  point ;  jugged,  jaggy,  ha\dng  a  slashed  zigzag 
edge,  ragged,  rough  with  sharp  projections. 

Or  else  the  ground  by  piercing  Caurus  seized 
Was  >y.(7V/ with  frost.— Thomson  in  Richardson. 
And  on  his  backe  an  uncouth  vestiment 
Made  of  strange  stuffe,  but  all  to  worne  and  ragged, 
And  underneath  his  breech  was  all  to  torne  anA  jagged.— Y.Q,. 

c 


18 

To  dag  is  in  like  maiinov  to  stab,  to  pierce,  to  slash.  A 
dagger  is  a  stabber,  a  weapon  for  stabbing  ;  Fr.  dague,  a 
dagger,  the  sharj)  horns  of  a  young  stag.  Dag,  a  small  project- 
ing stump  of  a  branch,  a  sharp  sudden  pain  [a  stab]  (Ilalliwell) . 
in  the  diminutive  form  we  have  the  prov.  E.  dagkl,  an  icicle, 
from  its  tapering  shape,  corresponding  to  the  Iccl.  is-digul, 
frost-diugid,  other  forms  of  diminutive  from  the  same  root. 

To  jag  or  dag  was  especially  applied  to  the  fashion  of  slash- 
ing garments,  which  formerly  afforded  so  frequent  a  subject  of 
ridicule  or  invective  to  our  satu'ists  and  moralists. 

Thy  body  bolstred  out  with  buiiibast  and  with  bagges, 
Thy  rowles,  thy  ruffes,  thy  caules,  thy  coifes, 

Thy  jerkius  aud  thy  jagges. — Gascoigne  in  Rich. 

So  under  the  name  of  dagging  in  the  Parson^ s  Tale : — "  But 
there  is  also  the  costlewe  fiu-ring  in  their  gownes,  so  moche 
pounsing  of  chcsil  to  make  holes^  so  moche  dagging  with 
sheres  forth.^^ 

In  this  point  of  view  2ijag  or  dag  becomes  equivalent  to  a 
rag  or  tatter,  bringing  us  to  the  notion  of  hangmg  loose,  flut- 
tering in  the  air,  swaying  to  and  fro.  Thus  from  dag  is  de- 
rived to  dangle,  as  the  Icel.  dingla  in  the  same  sense  from 
digul,  dingul,  an  icicle. 

The  same  idea  of  dangling  or  hanging  loose  is  exemplified 
in  the  dag-locks,  also  called  tag-locks  or  tag-wool,  the  matted 
locks  hanging  about  a  sheep's  tail ;  as  well  as  in  W.  tagel,  a 
dewlap,  the  wattles  of  a  cock.  The  provincial  G.  zagel  (iden- 
tical with  E.  tail,  as  G.  segel  with  sail)  is  in  like  manner  used 
to  signify  any  wavering  or  dangling  thing,  the  tail  of  a  dog,  top 
of  a  tree,  lock  of  hair.  The  corresponding  PI.  D.  tagel  is  ap- 
plied to  the  lash  of  a  whip,  rope's  end  j  the  Isl.  tagl,  to  the 
hanging  extremity  of  anything,  as  reip-tagl,  a  rope's  end,  fiall- 
tagl,  tlie  skirts  of  a  hill,  and  especially  to  the  tail  of  a  horse, 
whence  Swed.  tagel,  with  a  singidar  contraction  of  meaning, 
becomes  simply  horsehair,  as  Goth,  tagls,  the  hair  of  the  head. 

From  G.  haar-zagel,  a  tuft  of  hair,  we  readily  pass  to  Swiss 
tschogg,  a  tuft  on  the  head  of  a  bird,  a  man's  head  of  hair ; 
It.  ciocca,  a  tuft  of  fruit  or  of  flowers ;  E,  shock,  in  the  expres- 


19 

sion  a  shock-head,  a  bushy  liead  of  hair,  shock-dog,  a  dog  with 
shaggy  locks.  In  a  shock  of  corn  the  same  idea  seems  exhi- 
bited in  a  magnified  form,  the  signification  probably  being 
only  a  bmich  of  sheaves. 

To  dig  is  essentially,  like  dag,  to  thrust  with  a  pointed  in- 
strument ;  to  tiff,  to  give  a  twitch,  as  in  the  proverb  "  Ower 
mony  masters,  as  the  toad  said  to  the  harrow  when  every 
tooth  gave  her  a  tig."  With  an  initial  s  this  form  of  the  root 
gives  rise  to  the  Lat.  instigo,  instinguo,  to  prick  on,  to  insti- 
gate, whence  instinct,  that  which  urges  the  animal  on.  To 
extinguish  is  to  put  the  fire  out,  the  original  meaning  of  put 
being  to  poke  or  tlu'ust.  To  distinguish  is  to  point  apart,  to 
mark  by  separate  points  or  to  arrange  round  separate  points. 

The  syllables  yi,^'  or  Jog  are  used  in  E.  to  designate  various 
kinds  of  rouglily  or  sharply  reciprocating  action,  as  in  jig,  a 
quick  dance,  a  trick  (Halliwell) ;  jigging,  visiting  about ;  jig- 
geting,  jigling,  jolting,  shaking,  moving  unsteadily.  To  jog, 
to  give  a  momentary  impulse  to,  to  move  imsteadily.  Jogs, 
hits,  strikes  (Hall.),  illustrating  the  connexion  of  the  Lat. 
jacere,  to  cast,  throw,  and  icere,  to  strike,  stab,  with  our  root. 
Jogging,  a  protuberance  on  the  sm^face  of  sawn  wood  (Hall.). 
In  Lyell's  '  North  America '  he  mentions  certain  remarkably 
indented  cliffs  with  corresponding  zigzags  on  either  side  of  an 
estuary  called  the  North  and  South  Joggins,  the  meaning  of 
which  was  explained  to  him,  "  Why  you  see,  Sir,  they  jog  in 
and  jog  out.'^ 

It  is  impossible  to  draw  a  distinct  line  between  the  forms 
with  an  initial  j  and  g.  The  identity  oi  jag  and  gag  is  exem- 
plified in  Icel.  gagr,  projecting;  E.  gag-iooi\\,  a  projecting 
tooth. 

Her  jaws  grin  dreadful  with  three  rows  of  teeth, 
Ju(j(jy  they  stand  the  gaping  den  of  death. 

Pope  in  Richardson. 

An  exact  equivalent  of  the  ^.jog  appears  in  W.  gogi,  to  shake ; 
gogr,  a  sieve  (from  the  jigging  motion) ;  ysgogi,  to  wag,  to 
stii',  to  shog ;  and  in  the  Gael,  gog,  a  nod ;  ^o^-cheannach 
{cean,  a  head) ,  tossing  the  head   in  walking ;    gog-H\\\u\,  a 

c  2 


20 

(joggle  eye,  a  prominent  restless  eye, — "  They  yoygh  with  their 
eyes  hither  and  thither"  (Ilolinslied  in  Richardson) ;  goigean, 
a  cluster ;  goigeunnach,  clustering,  dangling ;  jn'ovincial  E. 
gog,  a  bog;  gog-inire  ov  juggle-mire,  a  quag-mire; — compelling 
us  to  regard  (juag,  and  conscqviently  quake,  as  modifications  of 
our  root,  and  thus  bringing  us  into  connexion  with  an  endless 
series  of  forms  derived  from  a  root  wag,  which  we  must  abstain 
from  touching. 

With  joggle,  or  juggle  and  goggle,  in  the  sense  of  unsteady 
motion,  must  be  classed  Se.  coggle,  to  rock ;  coggly,  moving 
from  side  to  side,  unsteady.  Hence  must  be  explained  the 
cogs  of  a  wheel,  viz.  as  jogs  or  unevennesses  on  the  edge  of 
the  wheel. 

Three  long  rollers  twice  nine  inches  round, 
In  iron  cased  and  jagg'd  with  many  a  cog. 

Grainger  hi  Richardson. 

The  expression  to  cog  in  the  sense  of  cheating  must  be  un- 
derstood as  signifying  a  trick  or  quick  turn,  a  sense  in  which 
jig  and  many  other  forms  of  oirr  root  are  also  used. 

While  cog  is  in  E.  applied  as  above  to  the  projecting  tooth 
of  an  indented  wheel,  the  corresponding  It.  cocca  designates 
the  notch  or  re-entering  angle.  Hence  with  an  initial  s  we 
have  to  scotch,  to  notch,  Bret,  skeja. 

The  notion  of  a  projecting  tooth  is  carried  on  in  Du.  kegge, 
a  wedge,  from  its  tapering  form,  and  its  diminutive  kegel, 
A.-S.  gicel,  an  icicle.  The  Du.  and  G.  kegel  is  also  a  ninepin, 
in  E.  provincially  called  gaggles  and  also  kayles  or  skayles, 
Fr.  quilles.  In  like  manner  in  Gr.  itself  kegel  is  contracted 
into  keil,  any  longish  tapering  body,  a  wedge,  as  well  as  kiel, 
the  quill  or  hollow  tapering  end  of  a  feather. 

The  forms  7^^  and  gig  are  still  closer  to  each  other  than  70^ 
and  gog.  We  have  gig,  a  top  (an  object  distinguished  by  a 
rapid  circular,  instead  of  reciprocating  motion)  ;  gig,  gigget, 
gigsy,  gig  let,  a  flighty  person,  a  silly  romping  girl ;  G.  geige, 
PI.  D.  gigel,  a  fiddle,  from  the  rapid  sawing  action  with  which 
the  instrument  is  played.     Hence  too  the.  PI.  D.  gigeln,  be- 


21 

giyeln,  to  deceive,  to  lead  by  the  nose,  to  beguile, — properly, 
like-  diddle,  to  deceive  by  tricks  played  off  before  one's  eyes. 
The  E.  wile,  formerly  ivigele  (Ancren  Rewle),  A.-S.  iviyehmg, 
geiviglimg,  deceit,  juggling,  bewitching,  and  wigelere,  a  sooth- 
sayer, are  derived  on  the  same  principle  from  wag,  waggle, 
wiggle,  expressive  of  unsteady  motion.  Possibly  in  Lat.  pra- 
stigioe,  the  syllable  stig,  which  we  have  already  found  as  one 
of  the  forms  of  our  root,  may  supply  the  notion  of  the  quick 
turn  or  trick  required  to  construct  the  actual  meaning. 

In  like  manner  we  are  led  from  jog  and  its  frequentatives 
jogger,  joggle,  juggle,  in  the  sense  of  moAing  to  and  fro,  to 
juggle,  in  the  sense  of  playing  tricks  of  sleight  of  hand,  which 
is  in  all  probability  essentially  the  same  word  with  the  fore- 
going gigeln,  begigeln,  and  with  provincial  E.  guggle,  to  guU,  to 
cheat  (HaU.),  although  the  mid.  hat.  joculalor,  a  juggler,  may 
seem  to  point  to  a  derivation  fi'om  jocus.  'Bui  jocns  itself, 
like  the  Lith.  jukas,  sport  (whence  jukininkas,  jukdarys,  a 
juggler),  may  probably  be  an  early  offshoot  of  our  stock,  having 
originally  signified  a  rapid  trick.  The  Sc.  jouk  is  applied  to 
a  quick  turn  of  the  body,  a  shift  or  change  of  place;  to  joivk, 
to  play  tricks  like  a  juggler ;  joukry--p&wkYj,  trick,  deception, 
juggUng  (Jamieson).  The  G.  gaukeln,  to  juggle,  has  little  ap- 
pearance of  being  derived  fi"om  joculari,  while  it  is  related  to 
schaukeln,  to  roll  as  a  ship,  to  seesaw,  as  gag  to  shog,  which  we 
shall  presently  recognize  as  a  neighbouring  form  of  jog. 

With  an  initial  s  from  gag  (in  Icel.  gagr,  projecting),  we 
have  Icel.  skaga,  to  project,  corresponding  in  form  to  E.  sJiag, 
shaggy,  in  some  places  pronoiuiced  scaggy,  hanging  in  uneven 
locks.  So  from  W.  gogi,  to  shake,  ysgogi,  to  Avag,  to  stir, 
coiTCsponding  to  E.  sJiog,  to  shake  roughly,  to  jog.  'The 
sea  was  schoggid  with  wawis'  (Wiclif),  was  jagged  or  rough 
with  waves.  An  ice-shoggle  or  shockle  is  a  shag  or  hanging- 
shoot  of  ice,  to  which  is  related  Du.  schongelen,  schonkelen,  to 
swing,  in  the  same  way  as  Icel.  dingla  is  to  digul,  and  E.  dan- 
gle to  daglet,  an  icicle.  As  an  equivalent  to  Du.  schonkelen 
may  be  mentioned  Fr.  chanceler,  to  totter,  a  frequentative,  of 
which  the  positive  form  is  represented  by  O.  Fr.  jancer, 
Vj.  jaunce,  jounce,  to  jog.     The  Fr.jancei-  is  also  to  jaunt,  to 


22 


make  a  plcasui'c  excursion,  to  take  a  jog,  Sw.  iara  iit  att  skaka 
pa  sigj  Fr.  allcr  se  faire  calioter  im  pcu. 

From  E.  shog  wc  easily  pass  to  Du.  schocken,  to  jolt,  Fr. 
choqiier,  to  strike  against,  to  shock ;  and  from  tliem  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  separate  Sw.  skaka,  to  shake,  to  jolt ;  Icel.  skakra,  to 
tremble,  to  stagger. 

We  have  said  that  both  the  elements  of  the  G.  zick-zack 
were  extant  as  living  roots  in  that  language.  We  find  zacken, 
to  jag,  dent,  notch,  slash,  explaining  E.  tack,  to  change  the 
direction  in  sailing  to  the  opposite  course,  to  sail  in  zigzag ; 
zacke  or  zacken,  a  spike,  prong,  tooth,  branch,  &c. ;  eis-zacken, 
an  icicle,  and  in  PL  D.  (where  an  initial  /  regularly  corresponds 
to  G.  z)  takk,  a  point,  a  branch  of  a  tree  or  of  a  deer's  horn ; 
is-takel,  an  icicle.  It.  tacca,  a  notch,  corresponds  to  G.  zacken, 
a  tooth,  just  as  It.  cocca,  a  notch,  to  cog,  the  projecting  tooth 
of  a  wheel.  Bav.  zicken,  PL  D.  ticken,  to  strike  with  a  quick 
short  blow  (Schmeller),  to  tick ;  G.  zucken,  to  shrug,  to  draw 
with  a  sudden  action,  to  tug ;  den  degen  zucken,  to  whip  out 
one's  sword;  den  kopf  zucken,  to  duck  the  head,  to  jouk 
(Scotch),  to  shrink  from  a  blow. 

Sp.  taco,  an  implement  for  thrusting,  the  ramrod  or  wad 
of  a  gun,  a  peg,  wedge,  bung,  a  billiard-cue ;  tocon,  a  stump, 
stock  of  a  tree ;  It.  tocco,  a  bit,  a  morsel  (properly  an  end, 
then  a  small  piece).  Sp.  tocar,  in  which  the  meaning  is 
softened  dowTi  into  the  idea  of  touching,  but  the  original  sense 
of  striking  is  preserved  in  the  expression  '  tocar  el  tambor,'  to 
beat  the  drum;  tocante,  catching  (of  a  disorder). 

The  same  softening  down  of  the  meaning  seems  to  have 
taken  place  in  Lat.  tangere,  originally  tagere,  explained  "  to 
touch,  i.  e.  to  strike,  hit,  beat,"  in  the  third  sense  given  by 
Andrews  in  his  Dictionary. 

Swed.  tagg,  a  prickle,  sharp  point,  sting ;  taggar,  the  teeth 
of  a  saw,  of  a  comb,  &c.,  like  G.  zacken.  E.  tag,  the  point  at 
the  end  of  a  lace,  the  jagged  end  of  anything;  hence  fre- 
quently joined  with  rag,  to  signify  the  rabble  or  unhonoured 
appendages  of  a  party.  "  Of  the  other  two,  one  is  reserved 
for  comely  personages  and  void  of  loathsome  discourse ;  the 
other  is  left  common  for  tag  and  rag" — Holinshed  in  R. 


23 

The  insertion  of  the  nasal  into  tag,  in  the  sense  either  of  a 
hanging  rag  or  a  projecting  pointy  gives  in  the  one  case  Isl. 
tangr,  a  rag,  and  in  the  other  tangi,  a  tongue  of  land  project- 
ing into  the  sea,  a  promontory;  Sc.  tangle,  an  icicle;  Isl. 
tangi  is  also  the  tang  of  a  knife  or  prolongation  of  the  blade 
running  up  into  the  handle ;  and  as  the  tang  is  held  fast  in  the 
sui'rounding  handle,  an  instrument  consisting  of  two  arms 
for  the  piu'pose  of  seizing  an  object  to  be  held  as  a  tang  or 
tongue  between  them  is,  by  a  converse  application  of  the  term, 
called  tangs  or  tongs,  Icel.  taungr.  In  the  same  way,  to  stick 
signifies  to  pierce  or  project  into  a  solid  substance,  and  to  be 
held  fast  in  the  substance  into  which  the  implement  is  stuck ; 
to  cleave  is  both  to  cut  into  and  to  adhere  to,  the  complete 
image  being  that  of  the  instrument  driven  in  between  the 
portions  of  the  cloven  object. 

Again,  we  have  Gael,  tac,  tacaid,  a  peg,  a  nail,  a  prop,  a 
sharp  pain;  E.  tack,  a  small  nail;  to  tack,  to  fasten  as  with 
pricks  or  stitches,  "  I  tack  a  thing,  I  make  it  fast  to  a  waU  or 
such  like"  (Palsgrave  in  Way).  Bret,  tach  (with  a  Fr.  ch), 
a  tack,  tacha,  to  fasten  with  nails.  Venet.  tacare,  Piedra. 
tache.  It.  attaccare,  to  hang  a  thing  up,  to  stick,  to  fasten, 
to  tie. 

The  way  in  which  these  Italian  forms  are  used  would  seem 
to  explain  the  Icel.  taka,  Swed.  taga,  E.  take,  as  originating 
in  the  idea  of  fastening  on,  laying  hold  of;  thus  tache  is  ex- 
plained to  hang  up,  to  stick  to,  to  fasten  on,  to  seize ;  '  tache 
la  rogna  ad  im,'  to  give  one  the  itch ;  '  tache  la  rogna  da  mi 
autr/  to  take  it  from  another.  In  the  same  way,  to  take  was 
formerly  used  as  well  in  the  sense  of  dehvering  a  thing  to 
another  as  receiving  it  from  him.  Tache,  of  plants,  to  take 
root;  tache  V  feu,  to  take  fire;  tachesse,  to  quarrel,  dispiite, 
scold ;  It.  attaccarsi  di  parole ;  just  as  the  corresponding 
reciprocal  tagas  of  Swed.  taga  signifies  to  struggle,  contend, 
quarrel. 

The  prefix  of  an  s  to  forms  like  dag,  tag,  tak,  with  the  fun- 
damental signification  of  a  suddenly  checked  thrust,  gives 
prov.  Dan.  stagge,  stagle,  to  stagger,  to  stumble  to  the  right 
and   left  in  the  endeavour  to  move  onwards;   Gael.  ,s-/rtc, •  a 


2i 

false  step,  stacach,  lu)ljl)liug-,  limjjing;  Swcd.  steg,  a  step; 
Dii.  staggehn,  to  paw  the  ground  as  a  horse ;  Swiss  staggelen, 
staiiggein,  st'igehi,  to  stutter,  to  sj)eak  in  sudden  impidses, 
with  reference  to  Avhieli  may  he  compared  the  Du.  tateren,  to 
stutter,  -with  E.  totter,  and  stutter,  again,  with  Du.  stooten,  to 
tlirnst.  Conversely,  to  stammer  is  used  in  the  north  of 
England  in  the  sense  of  staggering. 

Other  forms  are, — leel.  stanga,  to  thrust,  to  prick ;  stinga, 
to  prick,  to  stick,  to  sting,  to  touch ;  G.  stechen,  to  stab,  to 
prick,  to  sting ;  Bret,  steki,  stoki,  to  strike,  to  knock ;  Prov. 
E.  to  stock,  to  peck,  as  a  bird;  G.  stauchen,  to  jog,  to  jolt,  to 
ram,  to  */o^y  goods  in  a  cask  or  in  a  ship;  E.  stoke,  to  poke, 
to  stoach,  to  stab,  to  poach  wet  gromid. 

We  have  then  in  most  of  the  European  languages  a  variety  of 
forms,stac,stick, stock, stang,  signifying  au  instrument  of  thrust- 
ing, a  bar,  a  pole,  a  bolt,  a  pillar,  a  support,  or  anything  rising 
to  a  point.  Gael,  stac,  a  stake,  pillar,  thorn,  peaked  rock, 
stack  of  hay,  wood,  or  the  like ;  Pol.  stog,  a  stack ;  Du.  staeck, 
a  stake,  stick,  peg ;  Lith.  stokas,  a  stake ;  Sp.  estoc,  a  pointed 
sword ;  Gael,  stoc,  a  trunli,  post,  pillar ;  Du.  stok,  a  stick  or 
stock ;  Fr.  estoc,  the  stock  of  a  tree,  used  metaphorically,  like 
E.  stock,  for  the  stem  or  living  root  of  a  family  on  ^^■hich  the 
successive  descendants  appear  as  branches.  The  same  meta- 
phor represents  the  public  funds  as  stocks,  or  stems  developing 
their  fi'uit  and  branches  in  the  shape  of  annual  dividends.  A 
stock  of  goods  is  a  similar  metaphor,  in  which  the  things 
required  for  use  are  considered  as  the  fruit  or  branches 
detached  from  a  permanent  stem. 

With  a  nasal,  we  have  It.  stanga,  G.  stange,  E.  stang,  a 
pole,  bar,  bolt ;  and  in  Gael,  also  a  pin,  a  peg.  Without  the 
initial  s,  Langued.  tanca,  a  bolt,  tunc,  the  stump  of  a  tree,  or 
the  act  of  stumbling  against  it ;  Fiim.  tanko,  a  pole. 

Then,  as  driving  a  stake  into  the  ground  affords  one  of  the 
simplest  and  most  obvious  types  of  fixedness,  we  have  next  a 
series  of  verbal  forms  signifying  to  fix  or  become  fixed,  to 
stop,  cease  from  action,  to  fasten,  to  tie,  to  choke. 

We  speak  in  English  of  sticking  a  pin  into  a  cushion, 
stieking  a  thing  to  the  Avail,  sticking  in  the  middle  of  a  speech. 


25 

sticking  iu  the  mud,  sticking  in  one^s  tliroat.  Du.  stuaken, 
to  stop,  to  cease ;  Langued.  estaca,  to  stick  or  stop ;  estaca, 
Bret,  staga,  a  leasli  or  tie ;  Sw.  stocka  sig,  to  stop,  to  clod, 
to  coagulate ;  G.  stocken,  to  stand  still,  to  stop  short,  to  cease 
to  flow;  Prov.  E.  stogged,  set  fast  in  the  mire;  to  stodge  or 
staw,  to  cram  full,  to  bring  to  a  stand  in  eating ;  Prov.  Fr. 
estoquc,  fixed  in  -wonder,  also  stodged  or  gorged  with  eating 
(Hecart) ;  G.  stauchen,  to  cram,  to  stop  the  course  of  water. 

The  G.  ersticken,  to  suflbcate,  may  be  illustrated  by  W. 
tagu,  to  clog,  to  choke,  tag-SLradyr  (literally  clog  plough),  the 
plant  rest-harrow ;  ystagii,  to  clioke,  to  suffocate ;  Bret,  stay, 
a  tie ;  staga,  to  tie,  to  fasten ;  staguz,  sticky.  Langued.  tanca, 
to  stop ;  '  le  gousie  se  tanco,^  the  throat  stops  up,  chokes. 

The  Lat.  stagnum,  standing  water,  seems  formed  on  an 
analogous  plan  to  Prov.  E.  stockened,  stopped  in  growth, 
brought  to  a  stand.  The  derivative  stagnare  must  be  con- 
sidered as  collaterally  related,  and  not  as  the  direct  ancestor 
of  Fr.  etancher,  E.  to  staunch,  to  stop  the  flow  of  liquid,  which 
comes  directly  from  the  notion  of  fixedness,  firmness.  Thus 
we  have  W.  ystanc,  a  holdfast,  bracket,  stanchion ;  Fr.  etancon, 
formerly  in  the  same  sense,  also  as  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  prop, 
support,  trestle;  Bret,  stank,  thick,  close  (as  standing  corn, 
trees  in  a  wood,  &c.),  tight,  stanka,  to  staunch,  to  stop; 
E.  staunch,  firm,  fixed;  Sp.  estanco,  tight,  sound,  estancar, 
to  stop. 

Parallel  with  the  whole  of  the  preceding  series  will  be 
found  one  with  the  same  or  very  similar  meanings,  and  differ- 
ing in  form  only  in  having  a  labial  instead  of  a  guttural  ter- 
mination. 

Corresponding  to  the  {orvas,  jig,  Jag,  Jog,  we  have  to  Jib,  to 
start  suddenly  back  or  on  one  side,  whence  the  Jib  in  a 
ship  is  the  triangular  sail  in  front  that  traverses  from  side  to 
side.  A  Jibby,  giblot,  a  frisky  gadding  wench  (Halliwell), 
equivalent  to  gig,  giglet,  &c.  Tojiffle,  giffle  (with  the  g  hard), 
to  be  restless ;  &■  Jiffy,  an  instant,  the  time  of  a  single  vibration. 
To  Job,  \WcJag,  to  strike  or  thrust  with  a  pointed  instrument; 
the  Tuitjobber  is  a  provincial  name  for  the  nuthatch,  a  bird 
which  opens  nuts  with  its  beak.     Pol.  dziobac,  to  peck ;  dziob, 


26 

a  bcalc,  bill,  pock-mark ;  dzioba,  an  adze.  The  Gael,  gob,  the 
bill  or  beak  of  a  h\n\,  is  manifestly  the  same  word;  also 
applied  Indicrously  to  the  human  mouthy  whence  gobair,  a 
talker,  and  hence  probably  the  O.  F.  gaber,  to  lie,  to  jest, 
and  E.  gab,  jibe,  jape.  O.  E.  gobbet,  jobbet,  a  lump,  small 
quantity  of  anything.  Bohem.  zob,  a  beak,  zub,  a  tooth,  as 
of  the  mouth,  a  saAV,  comb,  &c.  Ajub  is  a  jog  trot;  to  jmnp, 
to  start  suddenly  forwards ;  to  jumble,  to  shake  up  things 
together. 

With  an  initial  d  we  have  dab,  a  slight  blow,  a  small  lump ; 
dabbet,  like  jobbet,  a  small  quantity  (Halliwell)  ;  to  dibble,  to 
make  holes  in  the  ground  with  a  pointed  instrument ;  a  dib, 
dimble,  a  narrow  valley,  a  dimple,  a  pit  in  the  check,  like  Pol. 
dziob,  from  dziobac. 

We  find  tap  very  generally  running  parallel  with  tack,  with 
a  fundamental  signification,  as  it  appears,  of  ramming,  thi'ust- 
ing,  striking  with  a  pointed  instrument,  as  in  the  words  of 
the  song,  "  The  woodpecker  tapping  the  hollow  beech  tree." 
Bohemian  top,  the  beak  of  a  bird,  topor,  an  axe,  tepati,  to 
strike  ;  E.  wui-topper,  another  name  for  the  nutjobbcr  or  nut- 
hatch. Portuguese  topar,  to  hit,  to  stumble,  trip,  strike  a  thing 
by  chance  with  the  feet ;  It.  intoppo,  an  obstacle ;  Fr.  achoper, 
to  stumble,  to  strike  against,  answering  to  choquer  of  the 
former  series.  Dan.  tappje,  to  throb,  to  struggle,  to  pant ;  Sp. 
Port,  tapar,  to  stop  a  hole,  viz.  to  ram  a  peg  into  it ;  Port. 
tapado,  tight  in  texture,  Lat.  stipatus,  as  Bret,  stank  above 
mentioned.  G.  zapfen,  a  tap,  bung,  peg  for  stopping  the  hole 
in  a  cask,  or  anything  of  similar  shape ;  e\^-zapfen,  Dan.  iis- 
tap,  an  icicle,  answering  to  e\%-zacken,  is-tcikel  of  the  former 
series  ;  W.  tap,  tapyn,  a  projection,  ledge  or  shelf;  top,  topyn, 
a  stopple,  top,  bush  of  hair;  G.  zopf,  schopf.  It.  civffo,  Fr. 
touffe,  toiqje,  E.  tuft,  answering  to  tscliogg,  ciocco,  shock,  of  the 
former  series.  E.  tap-root,  a  spindle-shaped  root ;  to  taper, 
to  assume  such  a  form,  to  diminish  in  size  towards  the  end ; 
a  taper  (originally  no  doubt  a  dip-candle),  so  named  from  the 
tapering  form.     Dan.  /q/>-sukker,  a  sugar-loaf. 

With  an  initial  s  we  start  again  from  the  notion  of  a  thrust 
with  a  sharp  implement  in  E.  stab,  leading  to  G.  stab,  a  stave 


27 

or  staff;  Gael,  stob,  a  tlirust  or  stab,  stump,  tlioni,  prickle, 
poiutecl  stick.  E.  stub,  stump,  a  projecting  point,  the  cut-off 
end  of  anything ;  stubble,  tlie  sharp  ends  of  corn  left  standing ; 
stubborn,  rugged  in  disposition,  standing  up  like  a  stub,  not 
easily  bent.  Icel.  stabbi,  like  stack,  a  heap  or  pile ;  Lat,  sti- 
pare,  to  ram  or  cram,  stipes,  a  stake,  stipula,  a  straw.  Bohem. 
staupati,  to  tread,  to  march ;  staupa,  a  stamp,  stupa,  a  step, 
stupka,  a  mortar,  stopa,  footsteps,  traces ;  stopka,  the  stalk  of 
a  leaf,  fruit. 

N.  of  France,  est  ope,  a  stake,  also  stable,  firm,  solid,  corre- 
sponding to  Bret,  stank,  ^.stanch.  In  the  same  dialect  we 
find  both  estoper  and  estocquier,  to  stop,  to  close,  viz.  by  tlirust- 
ing  a  peg  or  object  of  appropriate  shape  into  the  hole ;  to  stop 
or  come  to  a  stand  is  the  equiA^alent  of  the  G.  stocken,  Du. 
staaken,  above  mentioned.  E.  staple,  like  stanchion,  a  hook 
fixed  into  something  to  hold  by ;  Du.  stapel,  like  Gael.  Icel. 
E.  stack,  a  heap  piled  up,  a  depot  of  merchandise;  Swed. 
klock-stapel,  a  steeple,  the  pointed  tower  of  a  church.  As  the 
final  b  of  stab  passes  into  an  /  in  staff,  to  stuff  or  cram 
must  be  considered  only  as  another  form  of  stop,  and  stuff, 
matter,  substance,  is  the  staff,  stem,  or  stock,  out  of  which  an 
object  is  produced.  Household  stuff  is  the  stock  of  furniture, 
&c.  by  which  it  is  made  habitable.  The  metaphor  would  be 
but  slightly  altered  by  calling  bread  the  stuff,  instead  of  the 
staff,  of  life. 

Du.  stippen,  to  prick,  and  like  sticken,  to  embroider,  stipsel, 
sticksel,  embroidery,  stip-iuyxi.,  a  stake-fence,  paling ;  stappen, 
stippen,  E.  to  step,  the  equivalent  of  Gael,  stac,  Swed.  steg ; 
E.  stamp,  to  strike  with  the  foot,  with  a  pestle  or  the  like ; 
Swed.  stampa,  also  to  rock,  to  move  from  side  to  side  like  a 
ship ;  Bret,  stampa,  to  stride. 

Prov.  Fr.  s'etamper,  to  stand  up  ;  etampo,  an  upright ;  Fr. 
estamper,  to  support,  to  prop,  like  estancer,  etancher ;  estam- 
peau,  estanvfin,  a  prop,  stay,  trestle  (Cotgr.). 

From  stamp  must  be  explained  the  O.  E.  st amber,  stammer, 
Sw.  stamma,  titubare  lingua;  and  stammer  or  stummer,  to 
stagger,  stumble  (Brocket),  just  as  we  saw  the  two  ideas  con- 
veyed by  the  Swiss  and  Dutch  stayijelen,  staygeren ;  slavering 


28 

or  staveliny,  wandering  about  in  an  vmsteady  manner,  as  in 
the  dark,  stumbling  (llalliwell). 

Tlic  Litli.  stainhas,  stambras,  a  stalk,  indicates  the  loss  of  a 
final  ^  in  G.  stam,  E.  stem,  which  are  thus  brought  back  to  a 
root  stap  or  stip,  agreemg  with  Lat.  stipes,  stipula,  A  similar 
modification  woidd  produce  Lat.  stimulus,  a  prick  or  goad, 
from  the  same  radical  form.  From  stam  or  stem  we  have 
G.  stammen,  to  prop,  to  support,  to  stop  the  course  of  water, 
to  dam ;  Swed.  stdmma,  to  staunch ;  Dan.  stamme,  the  stock, 
stem,  or  trunk  of  a  tree,  the  stock  or  pack  of  cards. 

Lat.  stupere  may  be  explained  like  Prov.  Fr.  estoque,  brought 
to  a  stand,  fixed  in  wonder,  '  etre  etonne  jusqu'k  en  perdrc  la 
respiration^  (Hecart),  to  stand  like  a  stock  or  stub.  Gr. 
(TTvirr],  tow,  what  is  stuffed  or  rammed  in,  also  a  stock  or 
trunk,  as  Lat.  stipes;  arvTTTiKO'i,  styptic,  having  a  tendency 
to  staunch  or  stop  the  flow  of  lilood. 

It  is  obser\^able  that  the  same  series  of  meanings  as  above 
developed  appears  in  the  Sanscrit  stabh,  stambfi,  stumbh, 
fulcirc,  immobilem  reddere,  sistere,  stupere;  stambha,  postis, 
pila,  columna,  mons,  manipulus,  stupor  (Dieffenbach). 


29 
TRANSACTIONS 


OF  THE 


PHILOLOGICAL     SOCIETY. 


1855.— No.  3. 

February  9, 
Thomas  Watts,  Esq.,  in  the  Chair. 


The  Paper  read  was — 

"Norfolk  Words;"   collected  by  Anna  Gurney,  of  North 
Repps  Cottage,  near  Cromer. 

The  following  Norfolk  words  have  been  gathered  chiefly  on 
the  north-eastern  coast,  and,  either  because  they  have  not  been 
noted  by  Mr.  Forby  in  his  '  Vocabidary  of  East  Angiia,'  or 
because  they  appear  to  admit  of  some  further  elucidation,  are 
now  ofl:ered  to  the  Philological  Society,  in  consequence  of  the 
Circular  requesting  that  Members  should  collect  pecuUar  words 
current  in  their  respective  districts. 


Bank,  generally  used  for  '  beach.' 

Bee-bird  or  Beam-bird,  or  Wall-bird. — A  fly-catcher. 

Bishop  Barnabee. — The  Lady-bird  :  the  Marien-kafir  of 
Germany;  in  heathen  times  sacred  to  Frigga.  When  the 
Overstrand  children  catch  one  of  these  insects,  they  will  let  it 

go,  saying- 
Bishop,  Bishop  Barnabee ! 
Tell  me  when  your  wedding  be  ; 
If  te*  be  tomorrow  day, 
Take  your  wings  and  fly  away  ; 
Fly  to  the  east,  fly  to  the  west. 
Fly  to  those  that  love  you  best ! 

*  Norfolk  for  "  it." 


30 

But  tlic  more  usual  verse  of  manumission  is — 

Lady-bird,  Lady-bird,  fly  away  home ! 

Your  house  is  on  fire,  your  children  must  roam. 

I  should  think  that,  like  the  cock,  its  red  colour  connected 
it  with^^Ve. 

BoKE  of  straw. — A  bulk — up  to  the  rim  of  the  cart,  but 
not  higher. 

A  Brabble,  or  a  Brahhly  sea. — A  short  sw  ell ;  little  waves 
in  quick  succession,  very  unpleasant  in  a  boat. 

Bradcocks. — Young  tui'l)ots. 

To  Braid. — Always  used  iivstead  of  'to  net.' 

Brank. — Buck-wheat;  probably  of  Celtic  origin,  for  Pliny 
says  that  beer  was  made  by  the  Gauls  from  the  grain  Brace  : 
see  Bullet,  Mem.  Celt.  Brank  is  of  an  intoxicating  quality,  as  I 
have  seen  guinea-fowls  perfectly  stupefied  after  feeding  in  a 
field  of  it  in  wet  weather,  when  the  grain  has  become  a  little 
fermented.     It  is  however  given  freely  to  pheasants. 

Carr. — Chiefly  used  for  a  low  damp  grove  (as  Alder-Carr, 
Osier-Carr)  :  Kiorr,  a  swamp,  Icelandic. 

CooMS. — High  ridges,  according  to  Forby.  In  most  parts 
of  England,  Coombe  or  Combe  implies  a  valley  (the  cmne 
downAvards),  but  High  Combe  is  the  name  of  a  hill  in  Cum- 
berland, mp,  to  arise,  cumulus.  The  coomb  of  corn  (and 
formerly  of  coals  in  Norfolk,  though  now  superseded  by  the 
ton)  seems  to  mean  "  a  heap.''     The  comb  of  a  bird,  its  crest. 

To  Cop. — To  throw.  "  You  cop  it,  I'U  catch  it :"  connected 
with  kaupa,  to  sell ;  also  with  ?)3,  hollow  of  the  hand,  Hebr. 

Fishing  by  a  jerk  with  "  Chopsticks  "  is  practised  here  and 
in  Norway. 

Cosh. — A  covering  of  leaves;  another  form  of  "husk;" 
(the  glumes  of  com,  particularly  Avheat,  Forby ;)  pods  of  peas 
and  beans  (Miss  Baker) ;  cosse,  Fr. 

Daddled. — Said  of  ducklings  allowed  to  go  too  young  into 
the  pond,  evidently  "  daggled." 

Dag. — Dew  "  A  little  dag  of  rain."  We  have  "  water-dogs" 
for  Hght  watery  clouds ;  the  "  sun-dog,"  a  light  spot  near  the 
sun,  indicative  of  rain  ;  both  probably  from  the  same,  da^. 


31 

To  Dawl  a  cat. — To  coax  it. 

DiCKUP. — Formerly  as  usual  as  ''  Dicky/'  the  name  for 
the  ass,  probably  Flemish  Dik-kop,  thick-head,,  similar  to 
donkey  or  duncy. 

DiNDEL. — Sow-thistle ;  perhaps  a  corruption  of  dandelion. 

Doted. — Decayed,  as  wood. 

To  go  Driving. — To  go  out  fishing ;  letting  the  herring  or 
mackerel  nets  drift. 

EiRY. — Grand,  and  rather  alarming.  "  TMiat  an  eirij  horse !" 
said  an  old  lady,  of  a  tall  handsome  animal  at  which  she  was 
somewhat  scared.     It  is  common  to  Norfolk  and  Scotland  : — 

"  The  eiry  bloodhound  howl'd  by  night." — Border  Minstrelsy. 

It  seems  connected  with  Nn>,  Heb.  fear,  vereor,  and  with 
the  Germ,  ekre,  honour. 

To  ExvY. — To  wish  for;  (as  the  French) — "I  envied  my 
church.'' 

Errigle  or  Erriwiggle — ear-wike,  ear-ivrike,  ear-narro- 
wriggle,  ear-wiggle ;  as  poll-wiggle,  a  tadpole;  A.-S.  wigga,  a 
beetle,  worm ;  ear-ivigga,  an  ear-beetle  or  earwig, — appears  to 
be  the  original  rather  than  the  derivative  of  the  Latin  eruca, 
earwig;  the  double  r  gives  a  stronger  sense  of  horror. 
Hickes  and  Grimm  have  both  printed  a  little  Saxon  poem  on 
the  Runic  letters,  wherein  it  is  \^T.itten — 

"Ear  is  egle, — Ear  is  hateful." 

The  "  worm  is  hatefid  "  seems  to  fit  the  sense,  and  the  Avord  is 
probably  the  same  with  ver  and  ar^p — that  which  e«/'eth  or 
turneth, — as  to  ear  the  ground  is  to  turn  up  the  soil. 

The  Falls. — The  cliif-sides;  elsewhere  "feUs." 

To  Fathom. — To  spread  or  fill  out — 

"  The  wheat  fathoms  well." 

Fa^mr  being  a  man's  grasp,  it  should  seem  that  the  measure 
'  fathom,'  six  feet,  was  supposed  to  be  a  man's  usual  height, 
to  which  the  distance  from  tip  to  tip  of  the  fingers  ought  to 
correspond. 
FiLY. — Dirty. 


32 

Fis. — Decay  in  fruit;  from  effervescence  or  fermentation ? 
to  fizz  ?  to  fiste,  to  poison. 

To  Fiste. — To  find  out  (Dan.  visie). 

FoLKSAL,  or  Fo^-SEL. — The  forward  part  of  the  vessel,  where 
the  sailors  live  ;  fore-castle. 

Fool. — A  pet.  It  was  droll,  under  a  burning  sun,  to  hear  a 
Norfolk  servant,  toiling  in  keeping  together  the  luggage  of  a 
party  on  the  road  from  the  Piraeus  to  Athens,  call  out,  "  What 
am  I  to  do  with  your /oo/,  Mr.  C.  ?  it  won't  keep  quiet!  "  the 
fool  being  a  land  tortoise  which  had  been  picked  up  by  the 
way  by  one  of  the  junior  travellers. 

Fowl. — Applied  to  all  large  birds. 

Gain. — Handy,  convenient;  Danish  gavne;  and  gavnliy, 
advantageous. 

Gant. — Gannet  or  Solan  goose.  Forby  gives  the  meaning 
also  of  "  fair "  (a  going  together  ?,  concourse) ;  this  may  per- 
haps explain  the  name  of  Ghent. 

Glies. — Blinkers.  Though  intended  to  darken  the  sight, 
they  seem  a  form  of  Icel.  (jhiggr  or  gliggr,  window,  as  indeed 
fenestra  is  connected  vf\i\\finster. 

Ground-firing. — Explained  by  Mr.  Forby  as  a  perquisite. 
Here,  labom-crs  have  the  roots  of  trees  for  clearing  the  ground 
of  them,  also  stubble  cut  after  reaping. 

Halms  or  Awms. — Beards  of  barley,  also  stubble- straw  : 
connected  with  Danish  hahn,  straw,  aiul  with  calamus. 

Hammer  spots. — The  dappled  appearance  of  a  fine-coated 
horse.  The  hammer-cloth  means  the  skin-cloth,  and  it  was 
usually  of  bearskin.  The  Icel.  hamr  is  skin,  or  covering,  con- 
nected with  the  term  to  "  hap  up,"  and  also  with  hamus  (the 
encii'cling  hook),  and  ham,  home.  The  yellow-hammer  thus 
means  yellow  skin.  But  it  may  be  from  the  likeness  to  ham- 
mer-marks on  a  copper-kettle. 

Harnsey. — A  Norfolk  critic  would  have  known  "  a  hawk 
from  a  harnsey'' — a  heron. 

Hefty. — Rough ;  "  hefty  weather,''  a  "  hefty  sea  "  ;  Danish 
and  Germ,  he f tig. 

To  HiCKLE  up. — To  gather  your  effects  as  in  a  little 
heap. 


33 

Hobby. — Used  for  a  horse  of  any  size  ;  hoppe  is  Danish  for 
mare  generally. 

Kedge. — Lively;  connected  with  D.  kijck,  quick,  but  not 
^T\.th. 

KiDGER  or  KiDDiER,  a  carrier,  which  may  come  from  keg, 
as  pedder  fi'om  ped. 

Kink. — A  twist ;  certainly  connected  with  '  quick/  ^'itality 
being  tested  by  its  turnuig  and  twisting.  "  The  patient  will 
kink  up  again,"  may  thus  mean  '  quicken  up/  '  brisk  up.' 

To  Kip  fish  :  see  (Cop  and  Chopsticks).  In  Norwegian,  kioep 
is  a  little  stick  (not  a  mere  chip),  and  in  the  west  of  Norway, 
kippe  denotes  the  same  mode  of  fishing  by  line  and  chopsticks, 
as  "to  kip"  does  with  us  (Hallager's  Norsk  Ordsammlung) . 
In  Icelandic,  kippia  is  to  seize ;  kippi-hjckia,  a  lucky  catch  of 
birds  (Biorn  Haldorson's  Lex.). 

KiTTYWiTCH. — A  small  crab  that  makes  zigzag  tracks  on 
the  sand,  a  wigga  (see  Errigle),  so  called  like  the  vetch  from 
its  t\Adsting  about.  The  "kitty"  seems  to  denote  a  small 
creature  (chit).     Kitty -wake,  a  small  gull. 

To  Knop. — To  bud,  as  in  the  English  Bible ;  German  knospe, 
a  bud. 

Knot. — A  sandpiper ;  said  to  have  been  a  favourite  dish  of 
king  Canute's. 

Latch. — To  take;  connected  with  Xa7;^ava),  and  ID*?  and 

LoKE. — A  shaded  lane,  a  narrow  pass,  'locked  in';  "a 
short  narrow  turnagain  lane  "  (see  Forby) . 

The  LoNDEs. — Used  for  an  extent  or  strip  of  land,  Hke  the 
Landes  of  Poitou.  We  have  the  Londes,  in  a  smaU  way,  at 
Overstrand,  a  desert  strip  of  land,  now  built  into  a  street. 

LovE-coPE. — Name  of  an  ancient  right  existing  at  Lynn 
Regis,  probably  meaning  legal  tariff.  In  the  Gulathing  LaAvs 
(Icelandic),  the  term  lov-kaup  is  applied  to  the  legal  rate  of 
wages. 

Low. — A  loch  left  by  the  tide  on  the  shore ;  the  same  word 
with  the  lowes  of  the  South  of  Scotland,  and  cognate  with 
loke  (above),  '  the  enclosed.' 

LuM. — The  handle  of  an  oar  ;  Icelandic  hlumm.    By  no  im- 

D 


34 

usual  interchange  it  is  the  same  word  with  hwf,  the  pahn  of 
the  hand,  whence  (//ore.  Tn  Scotcli,  hnii  is  a  chimney  : — do 
they  regard  this  as  tlie  handle  of  the  house?  or  is  the  word 
rather  the  c/am,  the  Ivmip  of  clay  forming  the  fire-place  ?  "  To 
lum  the  oars/'  to  let  the  handles  down  into  the  boat,  without 
mishipping  them. 

Mardle. — A  gossiping  talk;  to  mardlc,  to  drawl. 

The  Mavish. — We  sound  the  aspirate.  Burns  speaks  of 
the  "mavis  mild  and  mellow/'  proving  Mr.  Forby  right  in 
applying  it  to  the  singing  thrush. 

The  Me  ALES. — The  name  of  sand-banks  at  Himstanton, 
from  mre/,  a  boundary. 

MosHECKLE  or  MoLESHECKLE. — Thc  boue  within  the  cuttle- 
fish, which  may  be  rubbed  into  pounce.  Is  it  from  nujlan, 
to  mill,  to  pulverize,  and  shackle,  that  Avhich  is  tossed  up, 
a  waif?  In  icicle  we  have  the  same  termination.  Gawain 
Douglas  has — "  grete  yse-schokkilis  lang  as  ony  spere." 

MuLLY. — Mouldy,  powdery. 

Myrebalks — low  ridges  of  earth  dividing  the  holdings  of 
tenants  of  common  lands — are  well  known  in  these  parts; 
A.-S.  niyre,  a  boundary,  the  balk  meaning  division;  in  the 
Scandina^'ian  laws  there  are  balkir  of  separate  subjects. 

Night-jar. — The  goat-sucker. 

Old  Shock  or  Shuck. — A  spectre  dog,  much  connected 
with  the  Danes ;  walks  the  coast  road ;  last  imagined  to  be 
seen  at  North  Repps  in  1853;  A.-S.  Scucca,  Satan.  There 
is  a  Shock's  Lane  near  Cromer. 

Orruck-holes. — Oar-drawing  holes,  as  distinct  from  thole- 
pins, which  are  less  used  in  our  boats  :  rykke,  to  draw, 
Danish.     Compare  English  rullocks. 

Par-yard. — Yard  "with  cattle-pens.  Par  seems  to  mean 
enclosure,  and  to  be  the  root  of  A.-S.  pearroc,  park,  or  paddock 
by  mispronmi elation. 

Ped. — Chiefly  applied  to  lobster  baskets. 

Pikelet. — {Pikelet,  a  sort  of  muffin  in  London.)  A  glazy 
kind  of  muffin,,  also  called  Leather-back.  Bara-picklet  in 
Bailey,  lookuig  ^  if  fi'om  the  Welsh. 

PiNPATCH. — Mr.  Forby  is  probably  correct,  for  the  mol- 


35 

lusk  when  witlidraAvu  into  the  shell  looks  as  if  covered  with  a 
patch. 

PiTLEj  PicLE,  or  PiGHTLE. — A  sHiall  ' piccc '  or  field;  if 
not  itself  a  form  of  '  piece/  must^  I  think,  come  from  pynddn, 
to  pomid,  the  gh  being  placed  for  nd. 

To  Planny. — To  complain. 

PoTTENS. — Crutches;  O.-^.  potent ;  Fr.  potence. 

PuLKs. — Not  dirty,  as  Forby  says,  for  the  pools  of  clear  sea- 
water  on  the  sands  are  so  called. 

PuR-wiGGY  or  PoLwiGGY,  for  tadpolc ;  A.-S.  wicka,  a  worm, 
pool-wovm ;  or  poll-worm,  worm  with  a  large  head  ? 

Rack. — Driving  mist  (Shakespeare). 

'•'  With  cloudy  gum  and  rak  ouerquelmyt  the  are." 

Gawain  Douglas. 

Ranny. — The  shrew-mouse,  probably  from  its  long  nose. 
Rani,  snout,  Icel. ;  for  the  same  reason  the  snow-shoe  is  a 
rani  in  Icel.,  unless  that  means  'runner.' 

Ray  of  a  cart. — Its  rim  or  edge. 

To  Redd  up. — To  clear  up,  prepare,  also  Scotch. 

Room. — The  space  between  thwarts;  the  size  of  Scandi- 
navian vessels  was  reckoned  by  rummir. 

Roving  weather. — Uncertain  weather. 

RusNS  or  Rewsns. — The  splints  or  narrow  bands  of  wood 
rimning  inside  a  boat,  by  which  it  is  raised  or  lifted. 

RuTHER. — For  rudder. 

Safer  or  Sea-fare. — A  sea  voyage  :  "  What  sort  of  a  safer 
have  you  made  ?  " 

Sannying.  --  Lasting,  said  of  the  wind.  Isl.  seinka,  to  linger ; 
seinn,  slow,  late ;  with  O.-Fr.  seiyis,  late.  "  A  pining,  sannying 
wind,"  is  an  expression  I  have  often  heard ;  sannyking,  lin- 
gering. 

Sauce. — Fresh  vegetables  now, — though,  it  seems,  formerly 
a  salt  condiment  for  meat. 

A  School. — For  a  shoal  of  herrings,  &c.;  {school  of  whales 
is  the  common  phrase  in  the  whale  fishery). 

To  Score  out. — To  scour,  as,  "the  tide  scores  out  the 
beach :"  in  Suffolk  the  gangways  to  the  sea  are  called  scores, 
and  in  Lincolnshire  side  lanes  are  called  drawers. 

D  2 


36 

A  Scrap,  and  Scrap-nets. — A  place  where  small  birds  are 
fed,  and  lured  to  scrap  about,  till  a  net  falls  and  catches 
them.  I  remember  an  eminent  antiquary  being  much  puzzled 
at  the  woodcut  of  a  scrap-net  in  a  German  book  of  ancient 
customs,  the  motto  being  "net  to  catch  fools  instead  of 
fowls/' 

Seal. — Time  :  "  I  gave  him  the  seal  of  the  day,"  meaning, 
I  accosted  him  with  civility.  Preserved  in  hay  sell,  hay  time 
(see  Forby). 

To  Shack,  or  to  go  to  Shack. — Said  of  pigs  and  geese  run- 
ning loose  after  liarACst ;  not,  as  has  been  supposed,  from  their 
gathering  the  shaken -out  grain,  but  rather  connected  with  the 
Germ,  zeche,  a  club  ;  the  expression  zur  zeche  gehen  is  used 
for  '  going  shares.' 

Shale. — The  mesh  of  a  net. 

To  Shoot. — To  throw  in,  contribute  :  "We  shot  a  shilling 
piece  towards  the  fi-ocks."  The  A.-S.  scot,  Germ,  schiessen, 
is  used  in  the  same  sense. 

To  Shrawl. — To  screen. 

To  Shrepe. — To  clear  up:  "the  fog  shrepes,"  "a  little 
shrepe  of  light," — crejousculum  V  The  Icelandic  Lexicon  has 
"  skreppa,  dilabi." 

Shruff. — Rubbish  out  of  a  hedge. 

SiLE,  or  Small  Sile. — The  fry  offish ;  Icel.  sil  or  sili,  a  long 
narrow  herring;  Icel.  sile,  a  sprat;  Danish  silder,  herring; 
also  the  Scotch  sillock.  It  may  be  worth  noticing,  that  the 
"small  sile"  of  herrings  and  sprats,  cooked  like  white-bait,  is 
scarcely  distinguishable  from  that  dainty. 

SiTH. — The  length;  A.-S.  sid  is  'large,'  but  Danish  sid  is 
'long'  ('ample'  would  be  a  more  appropriate  translation  of 
the  Danish  w^ord) ;  A.-S.  wide  and  side,  which  is  the  Norfolk 
sense  of  the  word  ;  as  we  say,  "  the  width  and  the  sith,"  or  the 
sidth. 

Skep. — A  basket;  hence  toadskep,  a  fungus,  not  pro- 
nounced toadscap. 

Slug — is  used  of  a  heavy  surf  tumbling  in  with  an  off- 
shore wind,  or  a  calm ;  slag,  blow,  Danish. 

To  Slump. — To   fall:  "The   wind  slumped;"    is    it    con- 


37 

nected  with  slumber  ?     Gawain  Douglas  says,    "  on    slumnir 
I  slade  full  soon." — 

"  In  Susquehanna's  woods  where  timber  brash 
S/umjis  in  tlie  flood  with  many  a  hideous  crash." 
American  Pastoral,  printed  in  a  periodical  called  the  Honeycomb. 

Smee. — The  fry  of  herrings,  &c.  used  for  bait;  also  wild 
ducks  in  their  first  year's  plumage,  especially  the  immature 
wigeon,  are  called  siiiee  {small  things?). 

Snudge. — Hurried,  shuffling;  A.-S.  snude,  quickly. 
Specke. — Woodpecker   (German  specht),   akin  to  spicken, 
'  peck.' 

Spink. — Chaffinch. 

Spolt. — Brittle;  Germ,  spalten,  to  split. 
To  Spore  up. — To  prop,  as  with  a  spur  or  buttress ;  com- 
pare '  shore  up,'  (Forby) . 

Spowe — is  mentioned  together  with  the  curlew  in  Sir  Roger 
L'Estrange's  Household  Book,  and  seems  to  mean  the  whim- 
brel.     &pove  is  Icel.  for  whimbrel. 

Sprak. — Brisk;  Icel.  sprakkr ;  Scotch,  sprag ;  Eng.  spry, 
sprightly  : — 

"  I  will  catch  the  butterfly, 
Though  he  thinks  himself  so  spry." — American  Poet. 
Sprat-mowe. — Herring-gull. 

Stand. — A  flower-stalk ;  stand,  the  same  in  Swedish. 
Straik. — The  tire  of  a  cart-wheel. 
Strings. — Shafts. 

Stuggish. — Stout,  strong;  Icel.  styggr,  powerful  and  violent. 
Sump. — Fossil  wood,   but  not  petrified, — swampy ;    it  will 
burn  if  properly  managed. 

Swale.— -The  shade;  evidently  the  Icelandic  svala,  cold. 
A-swASH. — Across. 
Sway. — A  carpenter's  tool  for  boring. 

Tangle. — The  thick  dark  sea- weed  beset  with  little  blad- 
ders.    Icel.  Thaungull. 

Tow. — Used  for  fishing-tackle,  as  in  the  Germ,  iverk-zeug ; 
Danish  toi. 

Thite. — Not  only  tight,  but  thick,  as  applied  to  a  wood. 
Thurruck. — The  lower  flooring  of  the  stern  of  a  boat :  is  it 


38 

merely  that  wliicli  goes  through  the  boat  ?,  or  rather  the  Icel. 
thurkr,  dryness  ? 

Till. — The  dihivial  soil  of  the  cliff,  meaning,  it  seems,  earth, 
and  connected  vnih.  the  vcrl)  "  to  till,"  not  tellus,  though  per- 
haps akin  to  it :  the  word  has  been  adopted  by  geologists. 
Compare  Eng.  tilth. 

Tricolate. — Used  in  gardening;  probably  a  confusion  of 
trig  up  and  decorate. 

To  Try  or  Dry  (Dan.  torre),  fish  livers  for  oil,  that  is,  to 
drain. 

TwiFER. — Used  of  the  fibres  of  a  root ;  another  form  of  twig, 
expressing  a  parting  in  two. 

Unstowly. — Unruly,  not  to  be  stowed,  applied  to  children. 

Wheatsel  Birds  (se/=time)  which  arrive  about  Michael- 
mas,— I  think  cock  chaffinches. 

To  Whimple. — To  bore  (=  a  whimble). 

WiFFS  AND  Strays,  or  wipps  and  strays,  not  exactly 
waifs  and  strays,  for  it  seems  to  be  the  Danish  phrase  wipper 
og  straae,  '  ears  and  straws '  of  com. 

Willock  or  Willy. — A  guillemot. 

WoASH. — The  call  of  the  wagoner  walking  on  the  near  side 
of  his  team,  to  make  his  horses  turn  off  to  the  right,  while  if 
to  the  left  he  would  say  '  come  hither,'  yet  the  word  itself 
seems  to  be  gauche.  Does  not  this  point  to  a  custom  which 
may  have  been  introduced  by  the  Normans,  and  to  a  time 
when  the  practice  opposite  to  our  present  custom,  but  still  in 
use  on  the  continent,  may  have  been  kept  up  on  the  road, 
that  of  tm'ning  out  to  the  left  instead  of  the  right  in  passing  ? 

WooD-jAR. — A  nut-hatch. 

To  WuNT. — To  sit,  as  a  hen;  A.-S.  wunian,  to  abide. 

WuRROw. — For  biuTow ;  used  for  the  holes  of  crabs,  &c. 

To  Wynt. — To  stand  in  line,  as  poles  :  is  it  the  opposite  of 
squint  ? 

Yary. — Biisk.  The  /',  as  the  letter  expressive  of  rushing, 
is  frequent  in  the  names  of  rivers  :  the  main  river  of  Norfolk, 
formerly  the  Garienis,  now  the  Yare,  appears  at  Harford 
bridges  (near  Norwich),  with  an  aspirate,  in  every  form 
meaning  the  river  of  the  district. 


39 

Amongst  our  surnames  we  have  some  of  the  proper  names 
of  the  Scandinavians,  as — 

Hague,  Haeo, 

Kettle,  Ketill, 

Thiu-kettle,  Thor-ketill, 

Olley,  Oleg,  or  Olaf. 

Ulph,  Ulfr. 

In  the  names  of  places  many  might  be  found  connected 
with  those  of  the  north  of  Europe.  Even  North  Repps,  the 
home  of  the  collector  of  this  list,  directly  reminds  us  of 
the  Hreppir,  or  districts  of  Iceland. 

Probably  many  more  reUcs  might  be  found  of  a  date  when 
our  provincial  dialect  was  so  weU  esteemed,  that  at  Bmy  St. 
Edmund's,  the  abbot  Sampson  was  considered  Avorthy  of  a  new 
pidpit,  because  of  the  elegance  of  his  addresses  in  the  Norfolk 
language,  in  which  he  had  been  educated.  See  the  Chronicle 
of  JoceljTi  de  Brakelonde. 


40 
TRANSACTIONS 

OF  THE 

PHILOLOGICAL    SOCIETY. 


1855.— No.  4. 

February  23, 
Professor  Key  in  the  Chair. 


The  followiug  Paper  was  read : — 
"On  the  Languages  of  Western  and  Southern  Africa;'^  by 
Dr.  WiLHELM  BleeKj  of  the  University  of  BerHn. 

Having  visited  the  coast  of  Western  Africa,  and  being 
about  to  leave  Europe  with  the  intention  of  making  philolo- 
gical researches  in  Southern  Africa,  I  desire  to  draw  the 
attention  of  the  Philological  Society  for  a  few  moments  from 
their  classical  studies,  to  these  barbarous  regions,  while  I  try 
to  point  out  some  of  the  facts  which  seem  to  me  to  render 
African  philology  of  great  importance  to  general  philology. 
These  facts  are  : — 1,  the  classification  of  the  nouns ;  2,  the 
formation  of  their  plurals;  3,  the  affinities  of  some  of  the 
African  languages. 

The  languages  to  which  the  following  remarks  apply  are 
those  of  M^est  as  well  as  South  Africa,  namely  : — 

South  African, — 

1 .  Herero,  the  language  of  the  Damaras  northward  of  the 

Namacquas. 

2.  Zulu,  spoken  fi'om  Natal  to  Delagoa  Bay. 

3.  Tsuana,  the  language  of  the  Bechuana  tribes,  in   the 

centre  of  the  country,  from  25°  to  28°  S.  lat. 

4.  Kafir,  the  language  of  the  Kosa  Kafirs,  adjoining  the 

Cape  Colony. 


41 

West  African, — 

1.   Wolof,  spoken  between  the  Senegal  and  the  Gambia, 
"a.   Timneh,  spoken  by  a  tribe  close  to  Sierra  Leone,  on 
the  east. 
'   I  b.  BuIIom,  spoken  by  a  tribe  close  to  Sierra  Leone,  on 
(^  the  north. 

3.  Odsi,  spoken  by  the  Ashantees,  Fantees,  Aquapim,  &c. 

4.  Fulah,  spread  extensively,  as  mentioned  in  the  text,  p.  45. 

I  regard  Southern  Africa  as  the  key  to  the  whole  central 
portion  of  the  continent,  because  I  believe  that  the  most 
ancient  types  of  African  life  have  been  best  preserved  here, 
as  well  in  respect  to  language  as  to  rehgion,  manners,  and 
customs.  A  scholar  intimate  with  the  Hottentot  and  Kafir 
manners  of  thinking,  will  easily  find  his  way  through  the 
enormous  bulk  of  different  national  and  tribual  distinctions 
spread  over  the  widely-extended  area  which  the  middle  por- 
tion of  this  continent  contains.  One  of  the  main  results  of 
the  inquiries  that  I  was  enabled  to  make  dui'ing  a  short 
voyage  along  the  coast  of  Western  Africa"^,  was  that  the  appa- 
rently great  variety  of  languages  spoken  near  that  coast, 
seems  reducible  to  one  family;  and  this  family  is  no  other 
than  that  to  which  all  the  different  dialects  of  Southern  Africa 
- — with  the  exception  of  those  of  the  Hottentots  and  the  Bush- 
men— are  acknowledged  to  belong.  Those  striking  features, 
indeed,  which  make  it  so  very  easy  to  trace  the  consanguinity 
of  the  South  African  languages,  have  for  the  most  part  disap- 
peared from  the  languages  of  Western  Africa,  in  consequence 
of  the  much  closer  contact  of  the  more  crowded  population 
there.  However,  where  it  was  possible  to  get  a  full  and  accurate 
grammatical  \aew  of  any  of  the  languages  spoken  near  the 
coast  of  Western  Africa,  there  were  e\ddent  traces  of  them  to 
be  seen,  sho\ving  that  the  present  state  of  every  such  language 

*  I  left  England  in  the  latter  part  of  May  1854,  to  join  the  expedition 
sent  out  to  explore  the  Tchadda  river,  but  having  been  taken  ill  on  the 
road  from  Sierra  Leone  to  Fernando  Po,  I  was  obliged  to  leave  the  ex- 
ploring party.  Next  month  I  hope  to  sail  with  the  Bishop  of  Natal  to 
his  diocese,  for  the  purpose  of  compihng  a  grammar  of  the  Zulu  language. 


42 

is  derived  from  an  ancient  structure,  similar  to  that  still  pre- 
vailing among  tlie  South  African  languages,  and  that  the 
Western  languages  agree  with  the  Southern  in  such  points  as 
it  would  l)c  impossil)lc  to  consider  accidental. 

The  chief  characteristic  of  the  great  Afiican  family  of  lan- 
guages is  known  to  he,  the  distribution  of  the  norms  into 
classes,  which,  with  the  exception  of  two,  are  restricted 
to  persons,  and  do  not  agree  with  any  natm-al  distinction, 
but  depend  entirely  on  the  use  that  is  made  of  the  derivative 
prefixes  to  the  nouns,  such  prefixes  being  pronomis,  and  being 
considered  as  representatives  of  the  nouns  to  which  they  are 
respectively  prefixed.  Therefore,  nouns  with  the  same  deri- 
vative prefix  belong,  as  represented  by  the  same  pronoun,  to 
the  same  class ;  and  there  are,  of  course,  in  every  language  of 
this  structui'C,  as  many  classes  of  nouns  as  there  are  difl'erent 
derivative  pronoun-prefixes  agreeing  with  them.  Thus,  the 
Herero  language  (more  generally  known  as  the  dialect  of  the 
Damaras  of  the  plains)  possesses  eighteen  classes  of  nouns. 
Of  these,  sixteen,  at  least,  are  to  be  found  in  the  allied  lan- 
guages, while  two  may  perhaps  be  regarded  as  later  sub- 
divisions of  other  classes, — ^just  as  the  fourfold  gender  of  nouns 
in  the  Danish  language  has  sprung  from  a  primitive  threefold 
division.  Conversely,  the  Kafir  language,  which  in  general 
must  be  acknowledged  to  have  best  preserved  the  ancient 
features  of  the  structure,  has  lost  three  even  of  the  sixteen, 
and  is  thus,  in  its  present  state,  restricted  to  thirteen  oidy. 
But  of  two  of  these  lost  classes  there  are  still  undeniable 
traces  to  be  found.  The  Tsuana  dialects  agree  in  this  respect 
with  the  Kafir  languages,  while  the  more  Northern  tongues 
preserve  the  whole  of  the  original  sixteen  classes  of  norms. 

This  rather  perplexing  structure  is,  however,  easily  explained, 
if  we  suppose  that  every  one  of  these  prefixed  derivative  syllables 
originally  possessed  the  value  of  a  noun.  It  is  not  at  all 
uncommon  for  us  to  use  instead  of  a  compound  noun,  as  for 
example  '  steamboat,'  the  simple  word  '  boat' ;  but  it  would 
seem  strange  to  us,  if  in  the  case  of  derivative  nouns,  like 
'  kingdom,'  we  heard  said,  '  the  dom  is  great,'  '  I  saw  the  coun- 
tries of  the  dora.'     But  in  former  times,  when  this  syllable 


43 

still  maintained  its  value  as  a  simple  noun,  and  had  not  merely 
that  of  a  derivative  suffix,  such  a  construction  could  not  have 
been  offensive.  The  only  peculiarity  in  these  derivative  pre- 
fixes of  nouns  in  the  Kafir,  Herero,  and  other  South  African 
languages,  therefore  is,  that  although  they  have  lost  their 
value  as  simple  nouns,  they  have  retained  the  power  of  re- 
calling and  representing  such  nouns  as  are  compounded  with 
them.  It  woidd  certainly  be  very  odd  to  hear  the  Herero  sen- 
tence ' o-u-hona  [o-lu-nene'  (=Kafir  ubukosi  [o\bukulu= 
Tsuana  bogosi  yo  Z'o^o/m  =  Bunda  kifutsi  ^me'7ie=Kamba 
utsumbe  unene,  etc.),  translated  literally,  'the  kingdom,  the 
great-dom,'  but  it  would  not  be  thought  strange  if  translated 
by  '  the  king's  empire,  the  great  empire.'  Suppose  now,  that 
in  the  course  of  time,  the  word  '  empire,'  as  a  separate  noun, 
should  cease  to  exist,  but  were  to  continue  to  be  used  as  a 
representative  for  the  nouns  compounded  with  or  derived  fi'om 
it,  then  you  will  have  just  the  case  of  the  Herero  '  ouhona 
ounene,  the  kingdom,  the  great-dom,'  and  '  omuhuka  omua,  the 
morning,  the  fine  -ning,'  &c. 

I  have  already  mentioned  that  two  of  these  classes  of  nouns 
are  so  far  coincident  with  a  natural  division  that  they  are 
restricted  to  personal  nouns,  including,  in  some  languages,  the 
names  of  certain  animals.  Wliether  this  has  arisen  from  the 
original  signification  of  these  nomis,  or  must  be  attributed  to 
a  later  combination  of  grammatical  and  logical  classifications, 
we  are  not  yet  able  to  decide.  But  an  important  use  has 
Ijeen  made  of  the  grammatical  classification  for  distinguishing, 
by  the  correspondence  of  difterent  classes  of  nouns,  the  differ- 
ence of  Siugidar  and  Plural.  To  illustrate  the  distinction  of 
number,  I  again  take  the  Herero  as  an  example,  and  give  the 
following  prefixes  for  the  two  numbers : — 

Singular  ;  omu,  oniu,  e,        otji,  on,     oru,  ou,       oka,  oku. 

Plural;  ova,  omi,  oma,  ovi,  ozon,  otu,  omau,  ou,  apa. 
The  obsolete  nouns  from  which  the  pronominal  prefixes  are 
descended  must  have  originally  formed  their  plurals  by  using 
collective  terms,  just  as  in  English  we  alter  man  to  people, 
tree  to  forest,  soldier  to  army,  &c.,  instead  of  the  grammati- 
cal plurals  men,  trees,  soldiers,  &c.     This  will  explain  why, 


44 

in  most  of  the  South  African  languages,  the  distinction  of 
number  is  not  marked  in  the  same  way  in  all  the  classes 
of  the  nouns ;  why  often  one  and  the  same  plural  class  corre- 
sponds to  several  singular  ones,  and  not  seldom  one  singvdar 
prefix  stands  in  opposition  to  two  plural  prefixes.  Nor  can 
we  wonder  that,  in  some  classes,  the  numerical  value  is  not 
fixed  by  the  correspondence  of  any  other  class,  and  that  in 
several  of  these  languages,  one  prefix  has  in  some  noims  a 
singular,  in  others  a  plural  value  ^.  We  find,  besides,  that  in 
some  cases  a  plural  prefi.v,  instead  of  being  put  in  the  place  of 
a  singular  one,  is  placed  before  the  full  singular  form  with  the 
prefix.  The  latter  method  has  prevailed  in  the  Wolof  lan- 
guage, Avhere  one  prefix  only  has  a  plural  signification,  and  is 
used  with  all  the  difterent  singular  forms,  so  that  one  plural 
class  corresponds  to  at  least  seven  different  singular  classes  of 
nouns. 


*  Table  of  the  derivative  prefixes  of  the  nouns,  in  their  numerical  corre- 
s[)ondence  ;  and  a  list  of  Zulu  words  in  their  singular  and  plural  forms, 
adding  numerals  to  each  word  referring  to  the  class  to  which  it  belongs. 


In  the  Zulu  Dialect  {with  the  article). 

Bryant. 


From  Schreuder,  Grout  and 


Sing.  . . 

1. 
u-Mu-,  u- 
u-M- 

3. 
u-Mu- 
u-M- 

5. 
i-Li-,  i- 

7. 
i-Si- 
i-S- 

9. 

i-N- 
i-M- 

ll. 
u-Lu-,  u- 

Plur.  . . 

2. 
a-Ba-,  o 
a-B- 

4. 
i-Mi- 

6. 
a-Ma- 
a-M- 

8. 
i-Zi- 
i-Z- 

10. 
i-Zin- 
i-Zim- 

10. 
i-Zin- 
i-Zim- 

6. 
a-Ma- 

6. 
a- Ma- 

6. 
a- Ma- 

14. 
u-Bu-,  u- 

15. 
u-Ku- 

Singular  (1)  umuntu,  man. 
(3)  umtini,  adder. 
(5)  Hike,  stone. 
(7)  isika,  tub. 
(9)  inlu,  house. 
(11)  utango,  fence. 


Plural  (2)  abantu,  men. 

(4)  imitini,  adders. 

(6)  amake,  stones. 

(8)  izika,  tubs. 
(10)  izinlu,  houses. 
(12)  izintango,  fences. 


45 

Some  of  the  West  African  languages  got  rid  of  this  rather 
troublesome  variety  in  the  formation  of  the  plural  of  nouns, 
by  simply  discarding  almost  every  diflFerence  between  the  sin- 
gular and  plm-al  forms  of  their  nouns ;  but  a  few  have  gone 
still  further  with  their  complications.  Amongst  these  is 
chiefly  to  be  remarked  the  Fulah,  a  language  of  gi-eat  im- 
portance; for  it  is  spoken  through  nearly  the  whole  extent 
of  the  interior  of  Western  Africa,  from  Sierra  Leone  to  Ada- 
maua  and  Mandara.  I  thought  it,  therefore,  a  great  pity 
that,  for  the  use  of  the  Tchadda  expedition,  I  was  not  able 
to  take  out  with  me  anything  about  this  language,  except 
a  copy  of  a  manuscript  grammatical  sketch  (with  a  small 
vocabulary)  by  the  Rev.  R.  Maxwell  Macbrair,  and  a  few 
words  to  be  met  with  in  difl'erent  authors.  On  my  return  to 
England,  however,  I  was  very  agreeably  surprised  to  find  that 
my  fiiend  Mr.  Edwin  Norris  had,  in  the  mean  time,  at  the 
request  of  Captain  Washington,  and  at  the  cost  of  the  Admi- 
ralty, prepared  an  edition  of  Mr.  Macbrair's  manuscript,  cor- 
rected and  enlarged  from  other  sources.  To  these,  I  was  then 
able  myself  to  add  a  manuscript  vocabulary  of  considerable 
extent,  collected  by  the  late  Mr.  W.  Cooper  Thompson,  which 
I  had  been  so  fortunate  as  to  procure  at  Sierra  Leone. 

From  an  examination  of  these  materials,  the  conviction  I 
have  got,  is  : — 

1.  That  in  the  Fulah  language  the  nouns  began  formerly 
with  prefixes,  which  are  now  almost  universally  dropped,  but 
have  often  influenced  the  first  radical  letter. 

2.  That  these  prefixes  of  the  nouns  were  originally  used  also 
as  pronouns  of  the  nomis  formed  with  them,  and  were  suffixed 
to  their  nouns  as  such,  and  with  the  force  of  an  article*. 

*  With  regard  to  these  two  points  wherein  the  Fulah  most  particularly 
agrees  with  the  Wolof,  a  comparison  of  the  two  languages  with  each  other 
would  prohably  be  of  great  importance.  It  is  most  Ukely  that  the  grammar 
of  the  Wolof,  which  the  Bishop  of  Dakar  (Cape  Verde)  is  about  to 
publish,  will  give  a  good  deal  of  additional  information  and  a  more  exact 
description  of  the  language  than  the  old  works  of  Mr.  Dard  and  the  Baron 
Roger.  His  Catechism  (Ndakaru,  1852)  shows — at  least  by  an  application 
of  a  more  simple  and  consistent  orthography — a  great  improvement. 


46 

3.  That  this  use  of  the  prefixes,  which  by  their  mutual 
correspondeuce  showed  the  distiuction  of  singular  and  phiral, 
will  serve  to  explain  the  double  inflexion,  Avhich  we  find  fre- 
quently in  the  plural  forms  of  nouns,  afliccting  their  first  as 
well  as  their  last  elements. 

4.  That  as  nearly  all  names  of  persons  have  -bi  as  their 
plural  termination,  and  most  of  them  -o  as  their  singular  one, 
these  syllables  must  be  considered  as  articles  referring  to 
former  prefixes  of  the  nouns. 

The  bi  may  be  recognized  in  the  w-,  with  which  many  of 
these  nouns  begin  in  the  plural,  and  w^e  conjecture  that  the 
original  form  of  o-  was  yo-,  from  a  comparison  of  some  of 
these  personal  nomis  with  their  roots,  as  yainuku  '  keeper,'  pi. 
ainabi ;  (cf.  ainu  '  to  keep  watch' ;)  gudso  '  a  thief,'  pi.  wubi ; 
(cf.  gudsu  '  to  steal.') 

That  we  are  right  in  this  supposition,  is  shown  also  by  the 
forms  of  the  pronouns,  kan-ko  '  he,  she,'  pi.  kam-bi  '  they,'  and 
o  or  mo  '  him,  her,'  pi.  be  '  them,'  which  refer  to  rational 
beings  only. 

Whilst  this  go  or  ko  agrees  very  well  with  the  South  African 
mu-,  the  prefix  of  the  first  class  of  nouns,  which,  used  as  a 
pronoun,  is  found  also  in  the  form  gu-  (as  Herero  irigui  '  this '), 
the  pliu-al  form  bi  is  rather  perplexing ;  as  generally  in  lan- 
guages of  this  family,  the  prefix  and  pronoun  ba  {va,  a)  is 
found  to  correspond  to  the  mu  (mo)  as  the  pronominal  prefix 
of  personal  nouns,  while  the  prefix  mi-  {me,  &c.)  is  applied  in 
South  Africa,  merely  as  the  plural  prefix  of  such  inanimate 
nouns  as  in  the  singular  take  the  prefix  mu-  (mo-) .  The  Tim- 
neh  and  Bvdlom  dialects,  in  and  about  Sierra  Leone,  and  also 
the  Odzi,  the  language  of  the  Asante  country,  agree,  in  this 
respect,  with  the  South  African  tongues.  In  the  latter  lan- 
guage, the  plural  prefix  a-  (which  is  chiefly  restricted  to  personal 
nouns),  and  the  pronominal-plm'al  prefix  vo-,  are  both  to  be 
derived  from  an  original  form  va-.  The  form  of  the  corre- 
sponding singular  prefix  is,  in  the  Odzi,  as  well  as  in  the 
Timneh,  o-,  which  mutilation  of  the  ancient  form  mu-  or  mo- 
is  also  fr-equently  to  be  met  with  in  Southern  Africa. 

But  we  find  that  the  Ga  or  Akra  quite  agrees  on  this  point 


47 

with  tlieFulah,  as  is  clearly  shown  by  an  extract  from  theManu- 
script  Grammar  of  the  Basle  Missionary,  the  Rev.  J.  Zimmer- 
man, for  which  we  are  indebted  to  the  Rev.  F.  G.  Christaller  of 
the  same  society.  In  this  langnage,  with  a  plural  vak^e,  mei 
corresponds  to  the  singular  mo  or  o.  Where  these  particles  are 
found  suffixed,  they  cannot  be  regarded  as  derivative  syUables, 
but  without  doubt  they  originally  stood  as  articles  only,  while 
the  derivative  prefixes  they  have  sprung  from  are  mostly 
dropped,  as  in  gbo-mo  'person,  man,'  pi.  gbo-mei,  blo-fonyo,  pi. 
blo-fomei,  &c.  But  still,  by  prefixing  mo,  pi.  mei,  adjectives 
and  numerals  can  be  turned  into  personal  substantives,  &c.,  as 
mo-kpukpa  '  a  good  man,'  pi.  mei-kpakpa;  mo-fon  '  a  bad  man' ; 
modin  '  a  black  man' ;  motsaru  '  a  red  man' ;  mokome  '  one 
man';  moko  "^ somebody,'  ]A.  meikomei,  &c.  The  same  pro- 
nouns are  discernible  in  mone  or  mene  'this,'  pi.  meine-mei, 
which  only  refer  to  persons,  and  to  which  the  relative  pro- 
nouns mom,  pi.  meinei,  correspond. 

Having  thus  found  a  coincidence  between  the  Fulah  and  Ga 
languages  in  a  very  essential  point,  I  cannot  but  suppose  that  a 
more  extended  comparison  will  show  a  closer  alliance  between 
these  two  languages,  than  either  of  them  will  evince  with 
any  South  African  dialect,  or  with  the  Odzi,  Bullom,  and 
Timneh,  although  all  these  languages  are  to  be  regarded  as 
members  of  the  same  family.  As  a  mere  conjectm-e,  I  may 
add  my  opinion,  that  the  Wolof  will  prove  more  akin  with  the 
Ga  and  Fulah  than  mth  the  other  West  African  branch  of 
this  great  family  of  languages. 

The  relation  which  such  a  language  as  the  Odzi  claims 
with  the  Kafir  and  Herero  tongues,  may  best  be  compared 
with  that  existing  between  the  French  or  English  on  the 
one  side,  and  the  classical  languages  or  the  Sanslvi'it  (or  if  the 
example  of  a  living  dialect  seems  preferable,  the  Lithuanic) 
on  the  other.  It  woidd  be  impossible  for  us  to  prove  the  con- 
sanguinity of  the  Kafir  and  Odzi  tongues,  if  we  were  not 
able  to  trace  the  history  of  this  family  of  languages  by  means 
of  a  comparison  of  a  great  many  of  its  vaiiously  developed 
members.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  the  apparent  similarity 
with  the  Odzi  which  makes  us  suppose  that  the  Yoruba  and 


48 

other  languages,  spoken  about  the  lower  course  of  the  Kworra, 
derive  their  still  more  broken  and  simplified  structure  from 
the  complex  one  of  an  originally  great  African  type.  Even  if 
every  trace  of  the  ancient  classification  of  the  nomis  have  dis- 
ai)pcared,  we  must  not  wonder ;  for  just  the  same  is  the  case 
with  the  modern  Persian  language,  which  evidently  is  to  be 
derived  from  the  old  Indo-European  type  possessing  a  three- 
fold gender  of  nouns.  I  consider  it,  therefore,  not  at  all  as 
yet  proved  that  the  Efik  or  Old  Calabar  language  (which  is 
indeed  very  different  from  the  adjacent  dialects  of  the  Isubu 
and  Dualla  people)  will  not  prove  as  nearly  akin  to  them 
as  many  of  the  South  African  languages.  The  Efik  Grammar 
and  Dictionary,  which  the  Rev.  Mr.  Goldie,  a  Scotch  mis- 
sionary, is  just  preparing  for  the  press,  will  certainly  afford 
materials  enough  for  deciding  whether  this  supposition,  derived 
from  a  very  imperfect  knowledge  of  the  tongue,  has  a  real 
foundation  or  not. 

Still  more  imcertain  is  the  position  to  be  assigned  to  the 
Mani  and  Mina  families  of  languages.      The  scantiness  of 
the  materials  I  have  as  yet  been  able  to  get  access  to,  does 
not  enable  me   to  give  an  opinion  on  the  affinities  of  the 
Mina   family    (which   includes    the    dialects    spoken   by  the 
Krumen,  the  Grebo,  Basa,  Dewoi,  &c.).     We  learn,  indeed, 
from  the  "^  Brief  Grammatical  Analysis  of  the  Grebo  Lan- 
guage' (Cape  Palmas,  1838,  pp.  36,  8vo),  that  there  exists  a 
sort  of  classification  of  the  nomis  in  the  language,  the  pro- 
novms  no  and  o,   pi.  oh  and  no,  being  used   for   large  and 
important  objects,  while  eh  and  ne,  pi.  eh  and  ne,  refer  to 
diminutive  objects.     Little  accurate  as  this  statement  may  be, 
it  induces  the  supposition  that  the  Grebo  is  a  pronominal  lan- 
guage, and  most  likely  one  of  the  Great  African  family^. 
Of  the  Mani  family  three  members  are  already  gramma- 

*  Upon  the  plural  forms  of  nouns  in  Grebo  we  find  the  following 
remarks  : — "  The  plural  form  of  nouns  is  generally  made  by  a  change  of  the 
final  vowel,  and  in  some  cases  by  the  addition  of  a  syllable,  f/  final  gene- 
rally becomes  i,  i  becomes  e  or  e,  e  final  becomes  o,  and  o  final  becomes  e ; 
o  becomes  e.  These  changes,  however,  are  not  sufficiently  uniform  to  con- 
stitute general  rules.     In   some    cases   the    consonants,  particularly  the 


49 

tically  described;  the  Susu  by  iirimtoiij  the  Maiidiiigo  by 
Macbraii'j  the  Vei  by  Norris  and  Kolle.  But  we  must  express 
our  disapproval  of  the  manner  in  which  the  Rev.  S.  W.  Kolle, 
to  whom  Afi'ican  philology  is  indebted  for  many  useful  and  im- 
portant contributions,  tries  to  make  out  affinities  of  the  Vei 
with  the  Indo-European  and  Semitic  languages"^.  The  same 
remarks  refer,  of  course,  not  less  to  the  comparisons  to  be 
found  in  his  most  A^aluable  Bo'rnu  Grammar,  although  I  do 
not  think  it  impossible  that  the  Ka'nuri  lan^age  may  prove 
to  be  a  member  of  this  other  great  family  of  pronominal  lan- 
guages, in  which  the  pronouns  do  originally  agree  with  the 
derivative  suffixes, — and  not,  as  in  the  great  African  family, 
with  the  prefixes — of  the  nouns,  and  the  classification  of  the 
nouns  is  brought  into  some  reference  to  the  distinction  of 
male  and  female,  as  seen  in  natm-e.  That  the  present  state 
of  the  Bo'rnu  language  does  not  show  any  characteristics  of 
what  is  generally  called  the  gender  of  nouns,  is,  as  we  men- 
tioned before,  no  proof  of  their  non-existence  in  former  times. 
With  the  Bo'rnu  language  we  have  already  exceeded  the 
limits  of  our  task,  passing  from  the  languages  spoken  near  the 
coast  to  the  centre  of  the  continent.  Here  the  territorium  of 
Adamaua — from  which  we  may  expect  that  the  Tchadda 
expedition  ^vill  bring  home  a  large  amount  of  valuable  infor- 
mation— seems  to  offer  a  very  interesting  field  for  philological 
researches.  Besides  the  Fulah,  Bo'rnu,  and  Haussa  (a  Semito- 
African   language),   this  country,    according   to  Dr.  Barth's 

second  one,  undergo  a  change,  but  this  is  rather  to  be  ascribed  to  the  ever- 
varying  nature  of  all  their  sounds,  tlian  to  any  established  principle  of  the 
language (?).  A  perfect  knowledge  of  all  the  plural  forms  can  be  obtained 
only  by  attending  to  individual  cases." 

*  As  to  the  native  invention  of  the  Vei  syllabic  alphabet,  I  am  still  con- 
vinced that  it  sprung  from  a  sort  of  pictorial  writing,  which  certainly  is  to 
be  found  in  Western  Afiica  no  less  than  on  the  banks  of  the  Congo  river, 
and  in  the  caverns  of  the  Bushmen  in  Kafirland.  The  Yoruba,  at  least, 
possess  pictorial  records  of  the  deeds  of  their  ancestors,  and  I  cannot  con- 
sider that  Mr.  Kolle's  intercourse  with  the  Vei  people  was  sufficiently  long 
to  enable  liim  to  be  fully  assured  of  the  non-existence  of  such  things  among 
them,  as  the  aborigines  generally  take  great  care  to  conceal  them  from 
the  eyes  of  a  missionary, 

E 


50 

reports,  is  crowded  with  a  great  variety  of  different  languages 
and  dialects.  Probably  one  part  of  these,  at  least,  will  bfe 
found  to  be  members  of  the  Great  African  family  of  languages. 
Farther  to  the  north-east,  the  Tuniali  language  in  Darfur  has 
still  preserved  some  of  the  most  striking  characteristics  of  the 
ancient  great  African  type,  although  the  vicinity  of  the  sur- 
rounding Semitic  and  sub-Semitic  tongues  has  exercised  an 
undeniable  influence  upon  the  Tumali,  as  well  as  upon  the 
Engutuk  Eloikob,  the  language  of  the  Kuafi  nation,  in  the 
interior  of  equatorial  Africa,  close  to  the  supposed  sources  of 
the  Nile.  We  may  compare  that  foreign  influence  upon  this 
Nilotic  branch  of  the  Great  African  family  of  languages  with 
the  manner  in  which  the  Roman  element  has  been  introduced 
into  the  English  language.  It  has  contributed  principally  to 
the  dictionary  of  the  language  and  also  worked  upon  the  con- 
struction ;  but  as  to  the  grammatical  forms,  few,  if  any,  can 
have  been  derived  from  this  source. 


51 
TRANSACTIONS 


OF    THE 


PHILOLOGICAL    SOCIETY. 


1855.— No.  5. 

March  9, 
Professor  Malden  in  the  Chair. 


The  following  Paper  was  read : — 

"On  the  Coptic  Language;"    by  Dr.   Carl   Abel^   of  the 
University  of  Berlin. 

The  nature  of  ancient  Egyptian  institutions  prevented  the 
composition  of  books^  aU  science  being  deposited  within  a 
closed  body  of  sacred  persons.  Or  if  we  are  to  believe 
Clemens  Alexandrinus^  that  there  were  forty-two  books  of 
Thoth,  and  that  they  were  learnt  by  heart,  each  by  a  distinct 
class  of  priests,  we,  on  the  same  ground,  may  suppose,  that 
only  a  very  few  copies  of  these  books  existed.  At  any  rate 
we  have  not  received  written  documents  of  this  oldest  culture, 
but  only  biographical  records  of  kings  or  eminent  individuals, 
religious  formulas,  and  some  juristic  transactions  of  civil  life. 
As  many  of  these  contain  the  same  expressions  or  sentences, 
the  amount  of  language  conveyed  to  us  by  them  is  but  small 
when  compared  with  the  number  of  documents,  or  estimated 
with  regard  to  its  philological  worth,  lessened  as  it  is  by  the 
ambiguous  way  of  hieroglyphical  writing. 

When  Egypt  was  conquered  by  the  Macedonians,  the  native 
religion,  which  had  been  the  basis  of  all  study,  declined,  and 
some  few  remaining  industrious  minds  gave  themselves  up  to 
the  Greek  literature  of  Alexandria.  It  was  not  before  the 
introduction  of  Christianity  that  the  popular  mind  was  again 

E  2 


52 

roused  to  intellectual  effort,  and  that  a  literature  was  com- 
posed, which  has  been  handed  down  to  us  under  the  name  of 
Coptic.  According  to  Euschius,  the  Evangelist  Mark  entered 
Egypt  during  the  reign  of  Nero,  and  converted  thousands  of 
the  mixed  Greek,  Jewish,  and  Egyptian  po])\dation  of  the  lower 
coiuitry.  The  Jews  in  these  regions  had  become  mystical 
Platonists,  the  Greeks  had  exhausted  their  learned  criticisms, 
the  Egyptians  were  a  ridiculed  and  forlorn  race,  feeling  all  their 
ancient  religious  wants.  Thus  Christianity  was  adopted  by 
the  people  with  enthusiasm,  and  only  seventy  years  afterwards 
was  found  by  Justin  Martyr  to  be  almost  universally  spread. 
Those  who  remained  heathens  tiunied  their  adorations  prin- 
cipally to  the  god  Serapis,  the  judge  after  death,  thus  exhi- 
biting the  same  revival  of  an  earnest  hope  of  perfection. 

Considering  that  the  Egyptians  were  the  first  who  may  be 
said  to  have  been  converted  as  a  nation,  and  that  the  whole 
fi'amcwork  of  religious  institutions  with  them  had  outlived  its 
soul  and  only  waited  for  a  reanimation,  we  may  easily  anti- 
cipate the  influence  which  they  exercised  on  growing  Chris- 
tianity. We  may  expect  them  to  be  the  '  Executive '  of  that 
kindred  faith,  which  the  scattered  Jews  coidd  do  nothing  for 
bvit  to  preach  it.  The  Egyptians,  who  always  had  believed  in 
the  immortality  of  the  soid  and  a  certain  trinity  of  gods,  whose 
priests  had  always  been  a  secluded,  shaven  and  shorn,  differ- 
ently-clad, class  of  men,  at  once  became  the  leaders  of  the 
intellectual  world.  Their  voice  dominated  in  all  the  councils 
of  the  Chiu-ch ;  their  separate  African  coimcil  of  Hipporegius 
became  the  model  of  that  of  Nice ;  and  an  JEgyptian  deacon, 
Athanasius,  settled  the  consubstantiality  of  God  and  His  Son 
against  the  Arian  heresy.  A  Jewish  colony  near  Alexandria, 
the  Therapeutse,  invented  monastic  life ;  and  the  lost  Gospel, 
according  to  the  Egyptians,  contained  the  praise  of  celibacy. 
Even  before  this,  the  Egyptians  had  been  called  Docetae,  be- 
cause they  thought  that  the  Sa\iour  had  been  crucified  in 
appearance  only.  These  and  similar  circumstances,  together 
mth  the  testimony  of  the  Fathers  and  the  Coptic  literature, 
may  induce  us  to  conclude  that  the  Egyptians  had  the  principal 
share  in  establishing  the  first  dogmas  of  Christianity. 


53 

It  is  doubtful  whether  the  preserved  versions  of  the  Coptic 
Bible  are  older  than  the  third  centmy ;  but  they  certainly  are 
not  of  later  date,  evincing  as  they  do  in  many  instances  so 
genuine  a  character,  that  they  are  beginning  to  be  made  use 
of  as  a  means  for  correcting  the  Greek  text.     Round  this  new 
centre  of  the  Egyptian  mind  the  Gnostical  philosophy  composed 
its  mystical  writings  as  a  combination  of  Egyj^tian  dogmatical 
subtlety  with  the  simj)le  pure  spirit  of  the  new  religion.     As 
yet  only  known  to  us  by  the  denunciations  of  the  Fathers, 
the  first  Coptic  religious  treatise  was  lately  published  from  a 
manuscript  in  the  British  Museum,  and  created  a  sensation 
among  learned  theologians  {Pistis  Sophia,  Opus  Gnosticum 
edidit,  latine  vertit,  &c.  G.  A.  Schwartze).     A  vast  number 
of  similar  religious  works  was  written  in  the  following  cen- 
turies down  to  the  Arabian  conquest.     Many  books  on  various 
other  subjects  have  been  preserved,  and  the  study  that  is  now 
being  bestowed  on  them,  will,  we  may  hope,  throw  a  new  light 
on  the  first  development  of  Christianity,  and  the  still  older 
culture  of  Egypt.     As  yet,  nearly  the  whole  of  this  literature 
is  manuscript.     Very  valuable    collections    are  preserved  in 
London,  Oxford,  Paris  and  Berlin.     By  far  the  most  remark- 
able portion  is  in  the  library  of  the  Vatican ;  and  the  Cata- 
logue   raisonne    of    the    Coptic    books    which    are    deposited 
there   (Catalogus  Bibliothecse  Borgianse,   ed.    Zoega)    shows 
that  the  Pope  possesses  the  most  important  part  of  the  whole 
Coptic  literature.     Much  more,  doubtless,  may  be  still  hidden 
in  the  Coptic  monasteries  of  Nubia,  Abyssinia  and  Jerusalem. 
The  Hieroglyphic  and  Coptic  literature  together  allow  the 
Egy|itian  language  to  be  investigated  through  a  compass  of  five 
thousand  years.  This  is  the  only  instance  of  so  lasting  a  \itality 
all  over  the  earth, — a  aira^  Xeyofievov  of  philology.     Chinese, 
and  even  part  of  the  Hindoo  literature,  may  reach  up  to  the 
same  age;   but  the  Chinese   dates   are  still  unexplored  by 
Eiu'opean  science,  and  the  Hindoo  chronology  evinces  most 
strongly  the  characteristics  of  mythology.     When  the  Arabs 
conquered  Egypt,  those  of  its  inhabitants  who  were  forced 
to  turn  Mussidmcn  soon  forgot  tlieir  native  tongue.     The 
reading  and  copying   of  Coptic   religious  books  being,  how- 


54 

ever,  a  rule  in  the  Christian  monasteries,  even  Lower 
Egypt,  although  more  influenced  by  the  Arabian  dominion,  is 
proved  by  many  MSS.  of  the  tenth  centuiy  not  to  have 
entirely  lost  its  language  before  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh. 
The  Arabic  translations  Avhich  avc  find  added  to  many  Coptic 
MSS.  may  have  been  introduced  from  and  after  this  period. 
In  Higher  Egypt,  according  to  the  Arabian  Macrizi's  'History 
of  the  Copts,'  every  man  spoke  Egyptian  in  the  fifteenth 
century ;  in  the  sixteenth,  Leo  Africanus  tells  us,  it  had  dis- 
appeared ;  at  the  present  time,  Arabic  is  the  language  of  Egypt, 
spoken  by  a  Mahometan  popidation  principally  of  mixed  Egyp- 
tian, Arabian,  and  Berber  blood.  Not  half  a  million  of  men 
have  remained  of  the  ancient  and  unmixed  Egyptian  race.  They 
are  called  to  this  day  Copts,  adhere  to  the  Monophysitic  creed 
(like  the  Armenians  and  Syrians),  and  are  among  the  most 
abject  instruments  of  oriental  despotism.  Long  ago,  the 
native  name  of  Egypt  {Chenii,  the  black)  had  given  way  to  the 
Arabic  denomination  of  "  Kebt."  It  may  be  considered,  how- 
ever, as  a  glorious  indemnification,  that  this  word  (like  the 
Greek  Ai'yvTTros:)  is  not  to  be  explained,  except  as  a  foreign 
and  abbreviated  pronunciation  of  the  oldest  and  holy  name 
given  by  the  Egyptians  themselves,  "  Kahi  ptah,"  country 
of  Ptah,  or  of  the  spirit  to  whom  Egypt  was  consecrated. 

The  writing  began  to  change  with  the  introduction  of  Chris- 
tianity. It  is  not  certain  when  the  hieroglyphical  shorthand 
was  utterly  discontinued  and  the  Greek  letters  now  forming 
the  Coptic  alphabet  adopted.  As  the  Egyptian  Saint  Anto- 
nius,  who  lived  about  the  middle  of  the  third  century,  did  not 
understand  any  language  but  Egyptian,  and  knew  very  well  the 
contents  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  in  that  tongue,  these  could  not 
have  been  translated  long  after  the  end  of  the  second  centmy ; 
and,  whatever  the  influence  of  the  former  Macedonian  kings 
might  have  been,  the  introduction  of  the  Greek  alphabet  must 
have  been  at  least  completed  at  the  date  of  the  translation  of 
the  Bible,  as  that  contained  and  quite  adopted  so  many 
Greek  words.  Six  hieroglyphical  signs,  however,  were  pre- 
served for  original  Egyptian  sounds,  representing,  under  the 
pictures  of  a  (jarden,  a  snuhe,  a  triangle  with  stick  and  crescent, 


DO 


an  eaffle,  a  crocodile's  tail,  and  a  basket,  the  letters  sh,f,  kh,  h, 
dj,  tsh ;  and  there  was  a  seventh  sign  for  the  syllabic  "  ti'' 

The  Coptic  separates  into  three  slightly-differing  dialects  : 
the  Thebanic  or  Sahidic  of  Upper  Egypt,  the  Memphitic  of 
Lower  Egypt,  and  the  Bashmuric  (so  called  from  a  region  in 
the  Delta) .  The  Bashmuric  being  the  most  degraded,  and  the 
Sahidic  being  but  little  known,  the  Memphitic  is  generally 
called  Coptic,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  others. 

The  roots  of  the  Coptic  language  have  not  been  proved  to 
be  related  to  the  Indo-Germanic  or  Semitic  languages,  accord- 
ing to  any  regular  and  numerous  change  of  sounds.  Different 
attempts  have  not  yielded  any  more  important  result  than  that 
of  showing  scattered  instances  of  a  remarkable  likeness  or 
similarity  with  very  different  tongues.  For  instance,  Sanskrit 
"  dschayi,"  gignere,  Coptic  djo ;  Sanskrit  "  /«',"  mittere,  Coptic 
hi,  Arabic  hui,  Greek  %eetv ;  Sanskrit  "  bid,"  separare,  Coptic 
ovot,  Arabic  bid;  Coptic  djadjo,  durus,  Turkish  katy,  &c. 
Coptic,  however,  approaches  the  Semitic  more  closely  than  the 
Indo-Germanic  tongues  in  the  nature  and  arrangement  of  its 
forms  and  inflexions,  and  has  a  great  likeness  to  Arabic  and 
Hebrew  in  some  of  those  points  which  are  considered  to  bear 
a  nearly-deciding  witness  to  the  unity  of  two  tongues.  Others 
again,  not  less  important,  are  utterly  different ;  for  instance, 
the  suffixed  pronoun  of  the  first  person,  /,  is  alike  in  Egyptian 
and  Hebrew ;  that  of  the  second,  in  Egyptian,  k,  is  formed  in 
Hebrew  by  another  palatal  Avith  an  underlaid  voAvel,  cho,  in 
Arabic  by  the  pure  k;  and  those  of  the  third  person  are 
easily  proved  to  be  related,  for  the  Coptic  j^^ei  is  an  alter- 
native of  the  sounds  6  or  i;  of  the  Coptic  letter  b,  and  to  this  the 
sound  ou  is  very  nearly  related  by  theory,  and  is  proved  to  be 
the  same  by  phei  standing  for  the  hieroglyphical  ov.  This  is 
the  simple  Hebrew  letter  vav.  But  most  of  the  other  pro- 
nouns and  the  numerals  escape  every  comparison. 

It  has  been  asserted,  that  a  similarity  in  the  mode  of  in- 
flexions is  more  illustrative  of  internBiiional  relations  than  a 
likeness  of  sounds  in  the  roots.  We  may  say  it  is  so  in  many 
cases,  at  least  in  the  present  state  of  comparative  philology. 
Whilst  neither  Coptic  nor  Arabic  etymology  has  proceeded 


56 

sudiciently  iiir  to  ciial)lc  us  to  decide  on  the  relation  between 
the  roots  of  either,  the  inflexions  exhibit  unniistukeal)le  signs 
of  the  wav  in  which  the  nations  viewed  things  and  their  com- 
binations.  The  likeness  between  the  Egyptian  and  Arabic 
conjugations  is  indeed  a  striking  one  in  many  instances.  The 
original  form  of  the  verb  (the  asl  of  the  Arabians)  is  in  both 
languages  the  perfect.  The  conjugation  by  means  of  suffixes 
has  l)een  more  or  less  preserved  in  the  same  tense  both  by 
Coptic  and  Arabic.  The  pronominal  prefixes  in  Arabic  are 
very  similar  to  the  Coptic  forms  of  ei  used  for  the  present 
tense.  The  auxiliary  verl)s  for  the  perfect^  the  subjunctive 
mood,  &c.  (Arabic  kan,  leitni,  Coptic  net,  nti,  he),  are  arranged 
almost  in  the  same  Avay.  The  present  tense  of  the  verb  "  to 
be"  is  seldom  expressed  in  either  language,  the  present  tense 
in  general  being  often  used  by  both  of  them  to  denote  future 
time.  Even  the  Arabic  incha  allah,  which  is  sometimes  added 
to  the  present  tense,  if  used  instead  of  the  future  tense,  may 
be  said  to  have  its  equal  in  the  formation  of  a  Coptic  future 
bv  means  of  the  auxiliary  verb  tare,  "  to  desire."  Almost  the 
only  example  of  an  internal  and  significant  change  of  sound  in 
the  Coptic  language  is  given  ])y  the  passive  generally  i/ifixing 
or  adopting  the  vowel  ee,  instead  of  any  other  contained  in  the 
root  of  the  active  form.  The  Arabic  passive  is  formed  in  a 
similar  mode.  Still,  in  Coptic  a  disinclination  may  be  remarked 
to  use  the  passive  at  all,  A  circumscribed  expression  by  means 
of  the  active,  with  or  without  a  relative  pronoun,  is  mostly 
preferred, 

.  A  proper  scientific  comparison  of  Coptic  words  with  those 
of  other  languages  is  rendered  more  difficult  than  in  ordinary 
cases  by  the  uncommonly  varying  formation  of  the  Coptic 
roots.  There  are  many  of  them  formed  on  the  ordinary 
monosyllabic  type,  constructed  by  the  different  positions  of 
one  vowel  and  two  consonants ;  but  others  wdth  two  or  three 
consonants  and  two  voAvels,  are  to  be  found  in  nearly  equal 
number ;  and  even  many  words  of  four  consonants  with  apper- 
taining vowels  have  not  been  shown  to  be  compounds.  Still, 
we  cannot  reasonably  account  for  polysyllabic  sounds  as  roots, 
except  by  their  being  later  enlargements  of  an  original  and 


57 

more  simple  root.  And,  besides  the  present  deficiency  of 
the  Coptic  Lexicon,  there  is  a  particular  reason  for  such  a 
conclusion  yviih  regard  to  Coptic.  This  language  exhibits  a 
strange  disability,  or,  in  other  instances,  disinclination,  to  ex- 
press derivative  ideas  by  derivative  sounds,  Coptic,  therefore, 
is  under  the  necessity  of  using  compounds,  where  more  active 
languages  created  new  words.  An  Egyptian,  for  instance, 
when  greeting  a  friend,  said,  that  he  "  called  success,"  mataie 
mouti,  or  "  gave  joy,"  toujo.  He  called  a  Avindow  "  a  place  of 
light,"  ma  en  eruoini,  or  "  a  place  of  looking  out,"  ma  eti 
djousJid  ebol, — or,  if  he  intended  to  express  himself  rather 
poetically,  "a  breach,  a  canal,"  shatc.  Nay,  he  was  even 
obliged  to  express  "to  sell,"  by  "to  give  away,"  mai  ebol, 
or  "  to  spend,"  ti  ebol,  ti  echrei.  And,  what  is  perhaps  the 
most  astonishing,  he  said  "  to  draw  water  "  for  "  to  drink,"  sek 
mou.  We  may  infer  from  such  simplicity,  that  the  long 
Coptic  roots  were  produced  in  a  similar  way  (which  moreover 
is  corroborated  by  the  hierogly]^)hical  roots  being  almost  all  of 
them  monosyllabic  ones ;  and  by  two  or  more  liieroglyphical 
roots  of  a  Idndred  meaning  being  frequently  put  together  in 
Coptic  times  as  compomids  with  scarcely  any  alteration  of 
the  sense ;  e.  y.  in  Coptic  muladg  is  '  owl,'  whilst  in  hiero- 
glyphics it  is  either  mu  or  hidg) ;  that,  for  the  same  reason, 
the  primitive  soimds  of  the  language  had  not  to  imdergo  any 
considerable  change  in  order  to  signify  new  ideas  (even  most 
of  the  great  number  of  prepositions  are  to  be  clearly  traced  to 
full  preserved  and  used  substantives) ;  and  that,  therefore,  we 
may  look  to  the  Coptic  language  as  a  peculiar  means  for  pene- 
trating into  the  onomatopoietic  childhood  of  mankind. 

It  may  be  easily  understood  that  in  such  a  language  the 
compass  of  meanings  attributed  to  any  one  word  is  a  very 
wide  and  seemingly  indefinite  one.  One  and  the  same  root,  for 
instance,  is  still  serving  for  "  house "  and  "  garment,"  hboc, 
hapi ;  for  "  to  cut,"  "  to  sacrifice,"  and  "  to  assassinate,"  shot ; 
for  "tail,"  "excrements,"  and  "phallus,"  set;  for  "cane," 
"sword,"  "flute,"  and  "loin,"  scfe;  for  "to  whiten,"  "to 
shine,"  "  to  germinate,"  and  "  to  bloom,"  pire.  "  To  call 
away,"  csliroii,  denotes  "to  lament,"  or  "  to  laugh,"  according 


58 

to  tlie  circumstances,  &c.  Again  :  besides  the  method  of  using 
distinct  particles  for  designating  the  different  cases  of  a 
nonn,  there  is  another  in  much  more  common  use,  namely 
that  of  suffixing  one  letter  {71,  enphonically  in)  for  all  cases, 
signifying  in  the  genitive  "  part  of,"  in  the  dative  "  towards/' 
and  in  the  accusative  "against."  An  investigation  into 
Egyptian  synonyms  will  prove  a  most  wonderfid  psycholo- 
gical research,  as  no  other  people  of  so  deep  and,  at  the  same 
time,  so  primitive  ideas,  has  produced  so  extensive  a  literature. 

The  mere  reduplication  of  a  root  in  order  to  increase  its 
scope  of  expressing  meaning,  may  be  considered  another  token 
of  preserved  native  features.  In  this  way  the  root  ai,  "  to  he/' 
becomes  aiai,  "to  be  to  be,"  meaning  "to  become;"  bor,  "to 
dissolve,"  becomes  border,  "  to  dissolve  to  dissolve,"  meaning 
''to  throw  away;"  besh,  "  naked,"  becomes  beshbosh,  "to  mi- 
dress  a  man  in  order  to  kill  him,"  or  simply  "  to  kill."  Even 
the  root  an,  signifying  very  indefinitely  "anything,"  and 
forming  nouns  by  being  prefixed  to  verbal  roots,  when  doubled 
and  made  anan,  may  impart  at  the  same  time  an  increased 
meaning;  for  instance,  ro  means  "mouth,"  ananro  "har- 
bour," that  is  "  mouth  of  a  river,"  or  (as  the  Nile  does  not 
form  a  "  harbour  ")  perhaps  "  mouth  of  the  sea  "  itself,  as  they 
chose  to  regard  the  matter. 

In  all  compounds  of  different  roots  the  French  logical  mode 
is  followed  [tirebotte),  not  the  German  involving  and  com- 
bining one  {Stiefelknecht).  But  if  a  particle  is  added  to  a 
root  in  order  to  render  it  a  substantive  or  adjective,  the  par- 
ticle always  precedes,  and  the  root  is  left  without  any  further 
termination  of  its  class.  Many  substantives,  adjectives,  and 
verbs,  (as  in  English)  do  not  at  all  differ  from  each  other 
in  form,  all  of  them  being  the  mere  root,  and  only  to  be 
distinguished  by  conjugation,  declension,  and  syntactical 
arrangement. 

This  was  not  the  case  with  the  old  Egyptian  tongue  as 
contained  in  the  hieroglyphics.  Pronominal  suffixes,  standing 
as  the  termination  of  every  substantive,  formerly  marked, 
as  it  were,  both  the  quality  of  a  subject  and  its  gender. 
Any   prefixed    article,    therefore;,   did  not   exist  in  hierogly- 


59 

phical  times.  The  Coptic  dropped  the  suffix,  formed  a 
substantive  out  of  the  mere  root  and  an  article  out  of  the 
pronoun,  and  preserved  only  in  a  very  few  instances  the  former 
termination  of  s,  i,  e,  for  the  feminine,  and  /  for  the  masculine 
gender.  The  numerals,  which  have  been  observed  in  many 
languages  to  be  of  a  particularly  conservative  nature,  are 
among  these  exceptionally  preserved  words.  The  feminine 
article  serves  also  for  the  neuter  one, — a  circumstance  so  much 
the  more  strange,  as  the  Coptic  maintains  the  rare  distinction 
of  gender  in  the  pronoun  of  the  second  person,  saying  nthok, 
"  thou,"  as  addi'cssed  to  a  man ;  ntho,  "  thou,"  addressed  to  a 
woman.  Hieroglyphics  do  the  same  even  for  the  pronomi  of 
the  first  person. 

The  pronominal  suffixes  have  been  preserved  most  signifi- 
cantly in  the  pronouns  themselves.  The  personal  pronouns, 
for  instance,  are  easily  analysed,  as  being  formed  of  the  root 
an,  "  thing,"  (with  or  without  the  interpolation  of  a  demon- 
strative t,)  and  difierent  terminating  letters  as  characteristics 
of  their  respective  person  and  gender.     Thus  are  produced — 


anak.  .  .  . 

I,  cha 

racteristic  f 

Buffi: 

tk. 

enthok 
entho  .  .  . 

y  thou. 

)} 

k  an 

entof    .  . 

he 

}) 

/•' 

entoc    .  . 

she 

}) 

c. 

anon    .  . 

we 

}j 

n. 

entoten.  . 

you 

}) 

oten 

entoou .  . 

they 

)} 

ou. 

The  suffix  of  the  third  person /was  made  an  article  under 
the  strengthened  form  otp,  and  then  again  combined  with  the 
different  suffixes  in  order  to  create  possessive  pronouns.  Allied 
to  itself  it  became  pef,  that  is  to  say  "he  he,"  or,  if  we 
acknowledge  the  promoted  dignity  of  the  jo,  "  the  he,"  meaning 
"his."  In  the  same  way  are  formed  ^ec,  "the  she,"  meanmg 
"  her ;"  pen,  "  the  we,"  meaning  "  our,"  &c.  It  is  only  ana- 
logous to  the  want  of  an  article  in  the  hieroglyphics,  that  in 
them  there  occurs  no  other  mode  of  forming  the  possessive 
I)ronoun  than  the  mere  addition  of  the  personal  suffix  to  the 


60 

substantive.  Thus  the  words  "  her  king "  are  rendered  in 
Coptic  by  pec  uro,  but  in  hieroglyi)hics  by  uroc.  Still  the 
pronominal  suffixes  have  been  preserved  in  Coptic  for  the  per- 
sonal pronouns  after  a  transitive  verb ;  for  instance,  efkush  +f 
=  cfketilif,  "  he  breaks  hira/^ 

The  Coptic  and  Hieroglyphic  agree  in  declining  the  personal 
pronouns  by  putting  certain  particles  before  the  suffix ;  nte, 
for  instance,  means  "of,"  and  forms  the  genitive.  It  is 
sim})ly  put  before  any  suljstantive,  as  nte  pi  romi,  "of  the 
man ;"  but  it  coalesces  Avith  the  suffix  k,  "  thou,"  into  ntak, 
"  of  thou,"  instead  of  preceding  the  full  pronoun  nthok,  "  thou," 
as  nte  nthok,  "  of  thou."  In  a  similar  way  the  ancient  use  of 
the  suffixes,  instead  of  the  lull  pronomis,  has  been  preserved 
with  all  the  different  prepositions,  conjunctions,  and  some 
adjectives  of  a  particularly  conservative  character;  for  instance, 
nem  "  with,"  forms  nemf  "  with  him,"  nemou  "  with  them," 
&c. ;  entere  "  when,"  forms  enterek  "  when  I,"  enterec  "  when 
she,"  &c. ;  teer  "whole,"  naiat  "happy,"  mauat  "alone," 
nane  "  good,'^  form  teerou  "  all  them,"  naiatf  "  happy  he," 
mauatk  "alone  I,"  nanoten  "good  you,"  &c.  Many  other 
particles  are  used  to  signify  the  different  cases;  the  plural 
being  seldom  marked  except  by  the  prefixed  plural  of  the 
article.  In  hieroglyphics  again,  a  plural  in  ou,  oui  (the  suffix 
of  the  third  person  in  plural  "  they"),  was  common. 

It  is  known  fi'om  the  hieroglyphics  that  the  old  tongue  had 
formed  a  present  tense  by  means  of  suffixed  pronouns,  as  the 
Sanskrit,  Greek,  Latin,  German,  &c.  do.  The  rest  of  the 
tenses  were  made  up  by  different  forms  of  the  auxiliary  verbs, 
ai  "  to  be,"  nei  "  to  come,"  and  inare  "  to  intend,"  generally 
being  put  before  the  root.  The  Coptic  conjugates  its  verbs  in 
the  same  way,  only  dropping  the  suffixes,  even  for  the  present 
tense,  and  supplpng  the  want  by  ei,  a  weaker  form  of  the 
original  auxiliary  verb  ai  "  to  be."  Thus,  the  present  tense  of 
the  verb  kash,  "to  break,"  would  nm  in  hieroglyphics  and 
Coptic  as  follows : — 


61 


HIEROGLYPHIC 


COPTIC. 


kashai  ....     I  break eikasli. 

kashak  ....  thou  breakest  .   .   .  ekkash. 

kashaf  ....     he  breaks efkash,  &c. 

kashac  ....  she  breaks     ....  eckash. 

kashan  ....     we  break enkash. 

kashten  ....     you  break tenkash. 

kasheu  ....  they  break    ....  eukash. 

In  the  same  way  ai,  "  I  have  been/'  forms  the  perfect ;  nei, 
"  I  come/'  the  imperfect ;  and  eie,  "  I  am  in  order  to  "  (made 
out  of  ei,  "  I  am/'  +  e,  "  to  "),  the  future.  The  latter,  eie,  is 
conjugated  eke,  efe,  &c.,  tlie  inherence  of  the  suffixed  pronouns 
being  stronger  than  the  addition  of  the  e,  "  in  order  to/'  which 
produces  with  ei  the  idea  of  "  shall  be."  Some  other  auxi- 
liary verbs  are  allowed  a  similar,  but  rarer  use.  It  may 
lilcewise  be  worth  observing,  that  the  original  conjugation  by 
means  of  suffixes  has  been  preserved  for  the  three  verbs  joe/e 
"  to  say,"  thr'e  "  to  do,"  and  mare  "  to  give,"  all  of  them  con- 
veying such  primitive  notions,  as  have  in  fact  produced  so- 
caUed  anomalous'^  verbs  in  most  languages  (Latin  inquit,  aio, 
cedo,  Greek  <^r)ixL,  Itj/mi,  &c.). 

The  zeal  lately  awakened  for  Egyptian  studies  may  be 
expected  soon  to  produce  an  amount  of  interesting  detail  for 
these  principal  features  of  the  Coptic  language. 

*  The  above-mentioned  anomalous  forms  of  the  Coptic  verbs  are  ori- 
ginally no  presents,  but  perfects.  The  hieroglyphieal  and  even  the  Coptic 
perfect  tenses  being  frequently  used  to  signify  present  time,  this  tense  has 
been  called  prcBsens  emphaticum. 


62 
TRANSACTIONS 


OF    THE 


PHILOLOGICAL    SOCIETY. 


1855.— No.  6. 


March  23, 
The  Rev.  T.  Oswald  Cockayne  in  the  Chair. 


The  Papers  read  were  : — 

I.  "  On  False  Etymologies ; "  by  Hensleigh  Wedgwood,  Esq. 

II.  "Ou  the  Kamilaroi  Language  of  Australia;"  by  William 

Ridley,  Esq.,  B.A.  Univ.  Coll.  Lond. 


j> 


I.  "  On  False  Etymologies. 

The  phenomenon  knoAvn  by  the  name  of  False  Etymologies, 
where  a  word  or  its  meaning  has  been  somehow  modified  from 
association  with  an  erroneous  derivation,  has  long  been  an 
object  of  considerable  interest,  partly  in  consequence  of  the 
quaintness  of  some  of  the  changes,  and  partly  as  exhibiting,  on 
however  small  a  scale,  an  undoubted  specimen  of  the  influences 
operating  in  gi^ing  rise  to  the  actual  condition  of  language. 
Of  such  etymologies  a  considerable  list  is  given  in  the  notice 
of  the  labours  of  the  old  Cambridge  Pliilological  Society, 
printed  in  the  fifth  volume  of  our  '  Proceedings,^  comprising 
however  many  questionable  examples,  some  to  be  rejected  on 
linguistic  grounds,  some  requiring  the  sujjport  of  philological 
proof  to  raise  them  above  the  rank  of  guesswork,  while  others 
are  mere  coiTuptions  of  a  foreign  word  introduced  into  En- 
glish and  spelt  according  to  our  pronunciation. 

The  expression  heart  of  oak  is  explained  fi'om  G.  hdrte,  as 


63 

signifying  the  hardest  part.  But  it  does  not  appear  that 
hcirte  has  ever  this  sense  in  German.  It  is  used  e;xactly  as 
the  English  '  hardness/  but  no  instance  is  given  in  the  dic- 
tionaries of  such  an  application  as  the  one  supposed,  nor  is  it 
necessary  to  look  for  any  recondite  explanation  of  so  very  na- 
tural a  metaphor  as  the  use  of  heart  to  designate  the  sound 
and  central  part  of  the  wood. 

The  derivation  of  Jew's  harp  fi'om  a  supposed  jeu  harpe  or 
toy  harp,  is  strikingly  opposed  to  the  idiom  of  the  French 
language,  in  which,  if  two  substantives  are  joined  together,  the 
qualifying  nomi  is  invariably  the  last. 

If  husband  had  ever  been  house-man,  the  very  principle 
which  gives  rise  to  so  many  false  etymologies,  the  desire, 
namely,  for  a  meaning  in  every  part  of  a  word  which  can  be 
supposed  or  can  be  made  significant,  would  have  preserved 
imaltered  a  word  whose  elements  so  directly  and  completely 
express  the  meaning  intended.  His  straightforward  descrip- 
tion as  'man  of  the  house'  would  never  have  been  changed  for 
the  metaphorical  title  of  '■  tie  or  band  of  the  house.'  Moreover, 
the  element  hand  is  extant  as  a  substantive  word  in  the  Scan- 
dinavian languages.  The  Icel.  bondi,  husbondi,  Dan.  bonde, 
husbonde,  the  master  of  the  household,  paterfamilias,  colonus, 
ruricola,  is  commonly  explained  as  from  buandi,  boandi,  the 
active  participle  of  bua,  hoc,  to  dwell,  to  till. 

The  favom'ite  explanation  of  John  Dory  from  Janitore,  the 
doorkeeper,  from  being  supposed  to  have  the  mark  of  St. 
Peter's  thumb  upon  it,  is  an  example  of  the  way  in  which 
philologists  sometimes  speculate,  like  king  Charles's  philo- 
sophers, without  the  precaution  of  weighing  the  salmon  in 
the  first  instance.  The  preliminary  objection  is,  not  only 
that  it  is  the  haddock,  and  not  the  dory,  that  has  the  thumb- 
mark  on  its  side,  but  that  the  Lat.  Janitor  does  not  appear 
ever  to  have  passed  into  an  It.  Giannitore,  and  certainly  the 
fish  was  never  known  by  that  name.  The  real  designation  in 
It.  is  dorata,  and  in  Fr.  doree,  from  the  yellow  coloiu*  of  the 
fish,  leaving  no  doubt  of  the  significance  of  the  English  sur- 
name at  least.  Why  our  fishermen  should  have  thought  him 
worthy  of  a  christian  name  also  I  am  not  aware ;  it  certainly 


64. 

is  not  a  blundering  adojjtion  of  a  supposed  Fr.jaime,  which 
wouhl  have  been  a  superfluous  addition  to  the  term  doree, 
gilded,  and  in  faet  forms  no  part  of  the  French  name. 

The  explanation  of  the  expression  soiling  cattle,  for  feeding 
them  in  the  house,  from  Fr.  saouler,  to  glut,  to  satiate,  would 
requu'c  it  to  be  sho^vn  that  the  French  verb  is  used  in  the 
sense  of  feeding  cattle,  which  does  not  appear  to  be  the  case. 
But,  in  fact,  the  derivation  supposed  to  be  erroneous,  from 
converting  the  food  into  manure  or  soil,  is  perfectly  satis- 
factory: The  term  soiling  is  applied  in  the  first  instance  to 
the  food  itself.  Our  agriculturists  speak  of  'soiling  turnips 
on  the  gi'ound,'  as  opposed  to  soiling  them  in  the  house  (Agri- 
cultural Journal,  1854).  The  cattle  for  the  moment  are 
considered  merely  as  manure-making  macliines,  and  the  term 
soiling  is  then  elliptically  applied  to  them  instead  of  the  food 
which  they  consume. 

The  explanations  of  several  signs  of  public-houses  from 
quaint  alterations  of  phrases  labour  luider  the  common  diffi- 
culty of  a  total  absence  of  authority,  without  which  they  are 
really  wortldess.  They  are,  moreover,  for  the  most  part  liable 
to  the  fundamental  objection  that  signs  were,  until  of  late 
years,  intended  to  speak  to  the  unlettered  eye,  and  none  would 
be  adopted  that  could  not  be  rendered  in  a  pictorial  form. 
Now  how  should  the  chat  fi dele  (the  supposed  original  of  the 
cat  and  fiddle)  be  represented  to  an  English  public?  If  the 
portrait  of  the  only  faithful  cat  one  ever  heard  of  were  exhi- 
bited, the  house  would  infallibly  have  been  known  as  the  Puss 
in  Boots  rather  than  the  Cat  and  Fiddle.  For  a  like  reason 
we  must  regard  with  the  utmost  suspicion  such  interpretations 
as  the  Bull  and  Mouth  from  Boulogne  mouth;  Bell  and 
Savage  from  belle  sauvage;  Goat  and  Compasses  from  God. 
encompass  us ;  Axe  and  Gate  fi'om  ax  (or  ask)  and  get.  An  in- 
vitation of  so  liberal  a  nature  would  be  far  from  suiting  the 
views  of  an  innkeeper,  who  is  always  anxious  to  keep  the 
necessity  of  payment  in  \4ew : — 

This  gate  hangs  wide  and  hinders  none  ; 
Refresh  and  pay  and  travel  on, 

is  now  the  restricted  welcome  of  a  tavern  motto. 


65 

The  simple  truth  appears  to  be,  that  a  conjunction  of  the  most 
incongruous  elements  in  the  sign  was  often  adopted  as  a  means 
of  catching  attention  and  attracting  custom. 

Among  the  mere  corruptions  cited  as  instances  of  false 
etymology  may  be  mentioned  illiads  from  mllades ;  sandfine 
from  saintfoin ;  dandelion  from  dent  de  lion ;  verdigrease  from 
verdegris ;  bellibone  from  belle  et  bonne.  These  are  merely 
the  nearest  English  spelling  of  the  French  words,  with  no 
reference  in  the  mind  of  the  writer  or  user  of  the  word  to 
the  Iliad  of  Homer,  to  sand,  to  the  modern  dandy,  to  grease, 
or  to  either  belly  or  bone. 

In  the  case  of  the  ranunculus  sceleratus,  or  celery- leaved 
ranunculus,  the  English  term  owes  its  origin  to  no  erroneous 
opinion  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  Latin  one,  nor  has  it  suffered 
any  modification  whatever  since  it  was  first  devised.  It  is 
taken  fr'om  a  different  feature  of  the  plant,  and  is  doubtless  the 
invention  of  a  scientific  botanist  fitting  English  names  to  the 
nomenclature  of  the  Linnsean  system.  If  it  had  been  a 
popular  designation,  it  would  have  arisen  in  entire  ignorance 
of  the  Latin  name,  and  therefore  in  neither  case  could  have 
served  as  a  proper  illustration  of  false  etymology. 

With  these  criticisms  on  the  examples  of  the  former  list, 
and  observations  on  the  proper  limits  of  the  phenomenon  to 
1)6  illustrated,  I  shall  proceed  to  oflFer  an  amended  list,  com- 
prehending the  instances  of  false  etymology  already  known, 
together  with  such  as  can  be  sufficiently  established  from  any 
other  quarter,  including  several  from  Mr.  Trench's  valuable 
little  work  on  '  English  Past  and  Present.' 

One  of  the  most  usual  cases  is  when,  in  adopting  a  foreign 
word  into  the  language,  some  portion  of  it,  usually  the  con- 
clusion, is  modified  so  as  to  designate  a  genus,  of  which  the 
thing  signified  may  be  considered  as  a  particular  specimen. 
Of  this  class  are 

Crawfish,  from  Fr.  eci'evisse,  with  which  it  is  connected  by 
the  old  modes  of  spelling  krevys,  crevish,  craifish  (Trench), 
Languedoc  escarabisse  (as  in  the  same  dialect  escarabat,  a 
beetle),  from  the  scrabbling  action  of  the  claws ;  Sp.  escarbar, 
to  scrabble;  Catalan /er  escarabats,  to  scribble,  to  scrawl. 

F 


GO 

Causeway,  from  Fr.  chaussee,  via  calccata,  a  shod  way; 
Port,  ca/rar,  to  shoe,  to  pave. 

Bar- BERRY,  from  Lat.  herberis. 

Sparrow-grass,  fi'om  asparagus,  where  grass  is  taken  as  a 
generic  name  for  green  herb,  as  in  Iccl.  gras-gardr,  a  herb- 
garden. 

Gilly-flower,  from  Fr.  giroflee,  and  that  from  caryo- 
phyllus,  a  clove. 

Tube-rose,  from  Fr.  tubereuse  (polyanthes  tuberosa). 

RosE-MARY,  from  Lat.  ros  mar'inus. 

It  must  be  observed  that  rose  is  in  other  cases  taken  as  the 
type  of  a  flower  in  general,  as  the  Cliristmas  rose,  which  is  a 
species  of  hellebore ;  and  in  Irish  and  Gaelic  the  water-lily  is 
called  water-rose. 

Pent-house,  a  sloping  roof,  from  Fr.  appentier. 

Charter-house,  from  Chartreuse. 

Dormouse,  from  a  Fr.  dormeuse,  which  may  be  supplied 
from  Langued.  radourmeire,  a  dormouse,  agreeing  with  Sleeper, 
the  name  by  which  the  animal  is  known  in  Suffolk. 

JusTACOAT,  a  waistcoat  with  sleeves  (Jam.),  from  Yr.just  au 
corps. 

CuRTAL-AXE,  from  It.  corteluzo,  the  augmentative  of  coltello, 
Venet.  certelo,  a  knife. 

Poland,  formerly  Polayn,  from  G.  Pohlen  (Talbot). 

Ambergrease,  as  if  a  kind  of  grease,  from  Fr.  ambregris, 
although  here  also  the  spelling  may  be  a  mere  representation 
of  the  French  pronunciation. 

IsiNGGLASs,  formerly  icing-glass,  as  if  glass  for  icing  or 
making  jelly,  Fr.  gelee,  from  G.  hausen  bias,  the  bladder  of 
the  hausen  or  sturgeon,  acipenser  huso. 

Sometimes  the  spelling  only  is  affected,  as  in  Lant-horn, 
Fr.  lanterne,  where  in  the  spelling  of  the  E.  word  there  is  a 
manifest  reference  to  the  horn  panes  with  which  lanterns 
were  commonly  constructed. 

Abominable,  formerly  written  abhominable,  as  if  shocking 
to  the  nature  of  man. 

Island,  as  if  compounded  of  Fr.  isle,  fr'om  insula ;  really 
from  A.S.  iglond,  eye-land  (Philolog.  Soc.  Proc.  vol.  v.  p.  37). 


67 

Sometimes  the  original  expression  is  forced  into  English  sig- 
nificance Tvdth  little  regard  to  the  sense  of  the  resulting  com- 
poimd.     Thus  we  have — 

Beef-eater,  an  officer  in  charge  of  the  Cro^vn  plate  and 
jewels,  from  Fr.  buffet,  a  court  cupboard,  a  cupboard  of  plate 
(Cotgr.),  whence  buff'etier  woidd  be  one  in  charge  of  the  plate. 

Humble-bee,  from  bomble-bee,  Lat.  bombilus.  "  I  bomme 
as  a  bee  doth,  or  any  flye,  Je  bruis."  (Palsgr.) 

Wheat-ear  (a  bu'd  also  called  IVfiiterump) ,  from  whittail, 
Fr.  blanche-cul  (Cotgr.). 

Jerusalem  artichokes  (a  kind  of  sunflower),  from  It. 
girasole. 

Gum  Benjamin,  from  benzoin. 

Gum  Dragon,  from  tragacanth. 

Mandrake,  Mandragon,  from  Lat.  mandragora,  which  in 
the  Fr.  version,  main-de-gloire,  afibrds  a  more  complete  ex- 
ample of  the  phenomenon.  The  mandrake  was  supposed  to 
be  employed  in  the  magical  rites  used  in  the  preparation  of 
the  'hand  of  glory,'  hy  which  treasure  was  discovered.  See 
"  Thalaba.^' 

The  names  of  places  are  pecidiarly  liable  to  corruption, 
either  from  being  purely  arbitrary  in  themselves,  or  from  bemg 
introduced  by  uneducated  persons  ignorant  of  the  meaning, 
and  unsldlfrd  in  the  pronunciation,  of  the  native  term.  On  the 
coasts  of  our  North  American  colonies,  the  names  given  by 
the  French  settlers  have  now  to  be  chiefly  used  by  English 
sailors,  and  thus  the  A^ise  des  Cousins  or  Bay  of  Mosquitoes 
has  become  Nancy  Cousin's  Bay.  So  from  Setubal  our 
sailors  have  made  St.  Ubes,  a  saint  unknown  to  the  Romish 
Calendar. 

Among  domestic  examples  are — Bridgewater  from  Burgh 
Walter;  Gracechurch  Street fr-om Gracious  Street ;  Leaden- 
hall  from  Leather-hall;  Leighton  Buzzard  fr-om  Leighton 
Beau-desert,  where  the  brazen  eagle,  formerly  used  for  sup- 
porting the  Bible  in  the  church,  is  shown  as  the  buzzard  from 
whence  the  town  was  named. 

In  general,  however,  the  erroneously  modified  word  is 
adapted  to  express  some  character  of  the  thing  signified,  or  to 

f2 


G8 

satisfy  some  analogy  which  it  calls  to  mind.  Thus,  male  from 
mascnlus,  Cat.  masctts,  Fr.  masle,  male,  and  female  from 
feinina,  through  Fr.  femelle,  have  been  brought  by  modifica- 
tions in  writing  and  pronunciation  into  analogy  with  man  and 
ivoman,  as  if  female  were  derived  from  male, — an  analogy  of 
which  there  was  no  feeling  in  the  time  of  Piers  Plownnan, 
M'hen  they  were  -sn'itten  maule  and  femelle. 

The  Fr.  laniere,  a  thong,  has  become  Lanyard  in  nautical 
language,  in  apparent  analogy  with  halyard,  a  rope  for  haul- 
ing up  the  yards. 

The  name  of  the  Porcupine  affords  an  example  of  multi- 
farious corruption.  The  original  is  the  It.  porco-spino,  a  spiny 
pig,  which  would  probably  come  to  us  through  a  Fr.  porc-epin, 
although  the  actual  name  in  that  language  is  porc-ejnc,  from 
spica  instead  of  spina.  The  first  translation  into  English  was 
pork-2nn,  whence,  in  Somersetshire,  porpin,  a  hedgehog.  The 
third  syllable  in  porpentine  (which  was  Shakespear's  word) 
seems  to  have  been  added  in  blind  imitation  of  the  somid  and 
accent  of  the  foreign  word,  at  the  expense  of  all  etymological 
significance.  From  pore-epic  again  was  formed  the  popular 
porcu-pig,  in  which  the  clement  signifying  spine  is  made  to  do 
duty  as  a  reference  of  the  animal  to  the  genus  pig,  already 
expressed  in  Latin  in  the  first  syllable  : — 

Had  you  but  seen  him  in  this  dress, 

How  fierce  he  looked  and  how  big. 
You  would  have  thought  him  for  to  be 
Some  Egyptian  porcu-pig. 

Dragon  of  Wantley  (Halliwell). 

Runagate,  as  if  '  run  away,'  but  it  is  from  renegade,  It.  rin- 
negato,  one  who  has  renounced  his  faith  or  country. 

Shamefaced,  from  shamefast. 

Righteous,  from  rightwise,  and  in  Scotch  wrongous  for 
wrangivise,  as  used  in  Douglas's  Virgil. 

Livelihood,  from  life-lode,  way  of  life ;  O.-G.  lib-leit,  men- 
sura  victus  (Schilter). 

Uproar,  as  if  from  7'oar ;  really  fi-om  Du.  oproer,  G.  aufruhr, 
sedition,  from  roeren,  ruhren,  to  stir. 

Frontispiece,  as  if  the  piece  or  plate  in  front  of  the  book  ; 


69 

but  really  fi-om  Mid.  Lat.  frontispicium,  the  front  of  a  churcli, 
aspect  of  a  man  (Ducange). 

Gooseberry,  as  if  fr'om  being  eaten  with  goose,  or  like 
cranberry,  crane-berry ;  really  a  corruption  of  G.  krause-beer, 
Du.  kruise-beer,  haiiy  berry,  berry  with  standing-out  hairs. 

Field- FARE,  as  if  from  frequenting  fields;  really  from  A.-S. 
feala-for,  from  the  pale  yellow  colour  of  its  plumage. 

Vulgar  Scotch  Pock-mantle,  as  if  from  pock,  a  sack,  m- 
stead  of  the  Fr.  port  manteau,  from  porter,  to  carry. 

Red  GUM,  an  eruption  of  infants,  as  if  having  reference  to 
the  gums ;  really  from  A.-S.  yimd,  matter,  pus ;  "  Redgownde, 
sekeness  of  young  children"  (Promptorium). 

To  Brickwall  at  tennis,  Fr.  bricoler,  to  strike  a  ball  so  as 
to  strike  against  one  of  the  side  walls  (Cotgr.).  To  bricoU 
(Bailey),  as  if  from  recoilmg. 

Agister  (one  who  takes  in  cattle  to  pasture,  from  giste, 
gite,  a  lying  place),  a  gist  or  guest-taker  (Bailey). 

Blue  as  a  razor,  for  blue  as  azure  (Bailey). 

Baggage,  a  worthless  woman,  as  if  a  mere  incumbrance, 
from  It.  bagascia,  Fr.  bagasse. 

CowiTCH,  an  Indian  seed  producing  itching,  from  the  native 
name  kiivach. 

Forcemeat,  as  if  from  being  forced  in,  instead  of  Fr.  farcir, 
to  stuff. 

Waist-coat,  as  if  from  clothing  the  waist,  really  fi*om  Fr. 
veste. 

Country-dance  ;  Fr.  contre-danse. 

Cutlet,  as  if  a  slice ;  Fr.  cotelette,  from  cote,  a  rib. 

Wiseacre,  as  if  ironically  fi-om  wise;  G.  iveissager,  a 
soothsayer. 

Posture-maker,  a  merry-andrew ;  Du.  boetsen-maecker ; 
G.  possen-macher,  from  pjossen,  tricks. 

True  love,  from  Dan.  tru-Iove,  to  plight  one's  troth,  to 
engage ;  Isl.  tru-loufut  mey,  an  engaged  maid. 

Chamoy  leather,  as  if  from  the  chamois  or  wild  goat; 
Fr.  sameau,  chameau ;  G.  samisches  leder,  leather  from  Sam- 
land  or  Samogitia,  a  part  of  Poland,  as  Russia  leather, 
Morocco  leather.     The  chamois  could  never  have  been    so 


70 

l)lentiful  or  easily  obtained  as  to  furnish  the  leather  in  any 
quantity. 

Boot  and  saddle,  a  military  term,  the  signal  to  cavalry 
for  mounting ;  Fr.  boute-selle,  put  on  saddle,  one-half  of  which 
is  adopted  bodily,  and  the  other  half  translated  in  the  English 
version. 

To  Breech  or  whip  a  boy,  as  if  from  striking  him  on  the 
breech : — 

Kneeling  and  whining  like  a  boy  new  breech'' d. 

B.  &  F.  in  Narcs. 

Really  from  Du.  bridsen,  G.  britschen,  pritschen,  to  give  sound- 
ing blows  with  a  flat  board  or  a  rope's  end. 

Dead-nettle,  the  harmless  nettle  of  our  hedges,  from  deaf 
nettle,  G.  taube-nessel,  as,  a  '  deaf  nut  for  a  nut  without  a 
kernel ;  A.-S.  blinde  netel.  In  the  cultivation  of  language  the 
tendency  to  living  metaphor  is  constantl5^  diminishing,  and  deaf 
was  silently  exchanged  for  dead,  as  expressing  more  directly 
the  want  of  the  stinging  faculty  which  constitutes  the  one 
important  fmiction  of  nettle  life. 

Doublet,  a  jacket,  as  if  some  part  of  the  dress  were 
doubled;  really  from  It.  giubbetta ;  Sp.  jubon,  the  body  of  a 
woman's  gown ;  Fr.  jupon,  a  petticoat. 

The  old-fashioned  Demi-john  from  Fr.  dame-Jeanne,  a 
large  kind  of  bottle  fabricated  near  Arras  (Household  Words, 
April  22, 1853),  probably  owes  its  form  in  the  English  version 
to  a  reference  to  the  '  black-jack,'  a  large  leathern  jug  for 
beer  or  the  like. 

In  miniature,  from  miniare,  to  colour  with  minium  or  red 
lead,  and  thence  to  illuminate  books,  it  is  the  meaning  of  the 
word  that  has  been  affected  Ijy  the  false  etymology.  As  the 
pictures  in  books  were  necessarily  of  a  small  description,  the 
word  seemed  to  signify  a  small  picture,  from  minuere,  to  dimi- 
nish, and  is  now  applied  with  a  constant  sense  of  this  deriva- 
tion to  a  diminished  specimen  or  resemblance  of  anything. 

Coverlet  or  coverlid, — as  if  a  diminutive  from  cover,  or 
a  compound  with  the  synonymous  lid, — properly  signifies  bed- 
cover; Cat.  cobre-lit. 

Belfry,  Fr.  heffroi,  O.-G.  bere-friet,  a  tower  of  defence ; 


71 

Mid.  Lat.  bertefredum,  berfredmn,  belfredum,  applied  to  a 
cliurch  toAver.  Hence  in  English,  from  an  erroneous  recog- 
nition of  significance  in  the  syllable  bel,  the  term  has  passed 
on  to  a  designation  of  the  chamber  where  the  bells  are  hung 
or  rung. 

Decoy,  is  commonly  used,  and  is  explained  in  Richardson's 
Dictionary  as  if  from  coy,  to  make  coy  or  quiet,  to  tame,  to 
alhu'e  or  entice  away  from  : — 

He  n'  ist  how  best  her  heart  for  to  acoie. — Chaucer. 

And  oft  eke  him  that  doth  the  heavens  guide. 
Hath  Love  transform' d  to  shapes  for  him  too  base, 
Transmuted  thvis,  sometimes  a  swan  he  is, 
Leda  to  coy. — Uncertain  Authors  in  R. 

The  word  however  is  properly  a  duck-coy,  and  is  still  so  called 
among  the  people  in  some  parts,  from  Du.  kooi,  a  cage ;  ende- 
kooi,  a  duck-cage,  a  wicker  construction  for  catching  ducks,  a 
decoy. 

Carriage,  in  the  sense  of  a  coach  or  conveyance  of  superior 
order,  is  a  corruption  of  Fr.  caroche.  It.  carrozza,  from  carro, 
a  car. 

No,  nor  your  jumblings 

In  horse-litters,  in  coaches  or  caroaches. — O.  Play  in  Nares. 

Court-Cards,  as  if  from  the  kings  and  queens,  but  really 
coat-cards,  from  representing  dressed  figures,  is  fully  esta- 
blished by  quotations  in  Nares,  one  of  which,  from  a  book 
printed  in  1681,  shows  the  date  at  which  the  modem  pln-ase 
was  coming  into  use :  "  The  dealer  shall  have  the  turn-up 
card  if  it  be  an  ace  or  a  cote-card  (court  card), — si  sit  monas 
aut  imago  humana." 

To  CURRY  FAVOUR,  propcrly  '  curry  Favel,'  from  the  Fr.  pro- 
verbial expression ' etriUer  fauveau,'  to  curry  the  chestnut  horse. 
A  similar  case  is  the  expression  in  the  New  Testament,  "  to 
strain  at  a  gnat  and  swallow  a  camel,"  as  if  it  signified  baring 
to  make  an  exertion,  or  making  a  difficidty  at  swallowing  a 
gnat,  instead  of  straining  it  out  from  the  wine  previous  to 
drinking;  'excolare  culiccm'  (Vulgate). 

The  reprobation  expressed  by  Miscreant,  from  Fr.  mecreer, 


72 


to  believe  amiss,  would  probably  in  modern  times,  wlien  the 
feelings  of  hatred  to  those  who  believe  otherwise  than  our- 
selves have  been  so  much  softened  down,  have  lost  much  of 
its  virulence,  had  it  not  been  supported  by  an  a])parent  deri- 
vation from  ndscreatc,  as  if  it  signified  a  person  Avithout 
ordinary  human  feelings  or  principles. 

The  insertion  of  an  /•  in  the  spelling  of  Tartar,  properly 
Tatar,  has  probably  arisen  from  an  association  -with  Tartarus 
or  Hell  (called  Tartary  by  some  of  our  older  writers),  either 
in  consequence  of  the  horror  arising  from  the  Tatars'  cruel 
devastations  in  the  thirteenth  century,  or  from  regarding  these 
as  a  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  in  the  Revelations  concerning 
the  opening  of  the  bottomless  pit. 

The  general  ignorance  of  Greek  in  the  middle  ages  con- 
verted Necromancer  into  negro-  or  nigro-mancer,  as  if  from 
niger,  black,  in  accordance  with  the  popular  notion  of  magic 
as  the  black  art,  the  art  performed  in  secresy  and  darkness. 

We  may  conclude  with  a  familiar  example  in  the  prepa- 
ratory O  YES  !  O  YES  !  O  YES  !  in  Avhich  the  crier  of  our  courts 
of  laAv  preserves  the  memory  of  the  Oyez !  Hear !  of  his 
Norman  predecessor. 


The  second  Paper  was  then  read — 

"  On  the   Kamilaroi  Language  of  Australia ; "  by  William 
Ridley,  Esq. 

To  Professor  Key,  University  College,  London. 

Balmain,  Sydney,  Nov.  30,  1854. 
Dear  Sir, — The  recollection  of  the  dissertations  on  ety- 
mology to  which  I  used  to  listen  with  much  interest  in  1839, 
suggests  to  me  that  a  few  specimens  of  a  language  which  ] 
have  lately  been  studying,  and  which  I  believe  is  quite  unknown 
to  the  literati  of  Europe,  might  be  considered  curiosities  worth 
adding  to  your  museum  of  words.  The  language  I  refer  to  is 
called  by  those  who  speak  it  "  Kamilaroi : "  it  is  one  of  the 
most  widely-spoken  of  the  verj^  numerous  languages  of  the 
Australian  aborigines,  and  is  in  common  use  through  the 
upper  part  of  the  valley  of  the  Hunter  River ;  over  Li\erpool 


73 

Plains^  along  the  Namoi  River^  and  100  miles  of  the  Barwan ; 
also  on  Mooni  Greek  and  the  Bollun ;  that  is,  over  a  part  of 
the  country  about  400  or  500  miles  long  and  50  wide.  There 
is  hardly  a  word  in  Kamilaroi  which  bears  any  resemblance 
to  the  language  spoken  at  Newcastle  (the  mouth  of  the 
Hunter),  of  which  the  Rev.  L.  E.  Threlkeld  published  a  gram- 
mar in  1834.  Some  of  the  neighbouring  dialects  bear  some 
resemblance  to  it,  especially  Wolaroi,  which  is  spoken  on  the 
Bmidarra  and  on  the  Narran ;  but  most  of  the  nearest  lan- 
guages are  very  different.  Where,  however,  the  vocabulary  is 
quite  different,  there  is  a  close  analogy  in  the  inflexions  and 
idioms.  The  languages  are  named  generally  after  the  nega- 
tive adverb ;  thus,  in  Kamilaroi  (or,  as  some  colonists  will 
have  it,  Gummilaroi)  kamil  means  ^  no ' :  in  AVolaroi,  wol  is 
'no':  in  WailA\am,  ivail  is  'no':  in  Wiralhere  and  Pikabul 
(also  neighbouring  dialects),  wira  and  jiH^o,  respectively  are  the 
negatives'^.  From  a  lecture  delivered  in  Melbourne,  I  see  that 
the  same  plan  of  naming  languages  prevails  in  Victoria.  I 
have  prepared  a  tract  in  Kamilaroi  and  English,  to  enable  the 
colonists  settled  in  the  district  where  that  language  is  spoken 
to  give  them  some  instruction  in  the  elements  of  Christianity, 
and  this  contains  a  list  of  roots.  They  have  a  tradition  of 
their  own  that  all  things  were  made  at  first  by  one  being, 
Baiame ;  but  in  their  "  Boras  "  (assemblies  at  which,  by  my- 
sterious rites,  their  young  men  are  initiated  to  the  privileges 

*  Compare  the  converse  'Laugue  d'Oc'  and '  Langue  d'Oyl.'    Dante  has 

at  least  three  allusions  to  the  Italian  st,  and  one  to  a  provincial  form  of  it, 

sipa. 

E  non  pur  io  qui  piango  Bolognese ; 

Anzi  n'  e  questo  luogo  pieno 

Che  tante  lingue  non  son  ora  apprese 

A  dicer  sipa  tra  Savena  e  '1  Reno. — Inferno,  18,  v.  58-61, 

Ahi  Pisa,  vituperio  delle  genti 

Del  bel  paese  la  dove  '1  si  suona. — Inferno,  32,  v.  79,  80. 
Non  e  molto  numero  d'  anni  passati  che  apparirono  prima  qucsti  poeti 
volgari. .  . .  E  segno  che  sia  picciol  tempo  e,  che  se  volemo  cercare  in  lingua 
(V  oco  c  in  lingua  di  si,  noi  non  troveremo  cose  dette  anzi  lo  presentc 
tempo  per  CL  anni. —  Vita  Nuova. 

Nam  alii  oc,  ahi  oil,  ahi. si,  afFumando  loquuntur,   ut    i)uta    Hispani, 
Franci  et  Latini.— De  Vulgari  Eloquio,  lib.  1.  cap.  8. 


74 

of  manhood),  they  pay  much  more  visible  homage  to  a  being 
called  TuRRAMULLUN,  who  is  said  to  appear  at  the  Boras  in 
the  form  of  a  serpent ;  who  is  the  author  or  inspirer  of  mischief, 
cunning,  and  sorcery ;  in  fact  just  such  a  being  as  we  call 
'devil';  and  the  blacks,  after  a  little  intercourse  with  wliite 
men,  learn  to  call  Turramullun  'debil-debil/  Baiame\s>  unseen, 
but  is  heard  in  thunder ;  so  that  the  aborigines  of  A\istralia, 
once  said  to  be  atheists,  have  still  traditions  handed  doAvn  by 
their  fathers  from  Noah  of  One  Creator,  and  of  the  author  of 
e\dl.  The  regularity  of  the  language  of  this  wild  people  is 
astonishing ;  and  must,  I  think,  be  regarded  as  a  monument 
of  a  former  state  of  considerable  civilization. 

In  expressing  the  relation  of  nouns  they  use  suffixes,  not 
prepositions ;  and  their  declension  is  fuller  and  more  regular 
than  Latin.  For  instance,  mM^e= opossum,  but  there  is  a  sepa- 
rate nominative  when  the  subject  is  the  ayent  of  some  verb, 
formed  by  subjoining  -du.  Mute  simply  names  the  animal, — 
as  in  answer  to  the  question  What's  that?  Mutedu  =  't\\e 
opossum  as  an  agent';  mutedu  yindal  /«/M//e  =  ' the  opossum 
grass  will  eat.'  [N.  B.  Their  syntax  requires  the  following 
order  :  nominative,  accusative,  verb.  I  use  the  vowels  as  in 
French.'] 

1st  Nom.   mute,  an  opossum.  Ace.  &  Voc.  like  1st  Nom. 

2nd  Nom.  mutedu,  an  opossum  (agent).  Abl.  mute-di,  from  an  opossum. 

Gen mute-ngu,  of  an  opossum.  mute-dd,  in  an  opossum. 

(motion  io)mute-go,  to  an  opossum.  mute-kunda,  with  an  opossum. 

I  have  not  discovered  any  plural  form  of  nouns ;  they  put 
burrula  (many)  before  the  nomi,  or  repeat  the  noim  itself 
several  times,  to  express  plurality ;  but  in  the  pronoims  they 
have  both  dual  and  plural. 

PERSONAL    PRONOUNS. 
SINGULAR.  DUAL.  PLURAL. 

1.  nguia,\.  wy/mWc,  thouoryou,  andl.  "i  ngcane,  we. 

ngai,  my.  ngullina,  he  and  I.  /  ngeane-ngu,  of  us. 

ngaiago,  to  me.  ngulle-ngu,  belonging  to  you  ngeane-go,  to  us. 

ngaiadi,  from  me.  and  me.  ngeane-di,  from  us. 

ngaiada,  in  me.  ngullina-ngu,  belonging  to  ngeane-da,  in  us. 

ngaiakunda,  him  and  me.  ngeane-kunda,  with 

with  me.  ttguUe-go,  to  you  and  me.  vis. 

ngununda,rae.  &c.  &c. 


75 


[There  are  other  affixes  of  nouns  and  pronouns,  such  as 
-ngiinda  and  -kale,  which  I  thhik  mean  'going  along  with^; 
-kunda  (derived  from  kundi,  '  a  house ')  means  only  '  stopping 
with/] 


SINGULAR. 

DUAL. 

PLURAL. 

2.  inda,  thou. 

indale,  ye  two. 

ngindai,  ye. 

inda-ngu,      "i 
or  nrjinnu,  J      ^  * 

indale-ngu. 

ngindai-ngu. 

&c. 

inda-yo,  to  tliee. 

indale-go. 

&c. 

&c. 

3.  ng'irma,  be,  she,  or 

that. 

DEMONSTRATIVES. 

ngarma,  thej 

1 .  numma  or  ngubbo,  this.     2.  nguruma,  that  (iste).     '  ^^^™^it^  |  that(ille), 

INTERROGATIVES. 
1.  awdi?  who?  2.imnntmal  which?     3.  mmHO or mmj/a?  what? 

INDEFINITE. 
1 .  ngaragedul  or  ngarage,  another.  2.  kdnungo,  all. 

ADVERBS. 
2/0  or  ?/«,  yes.  gir,  verily  (a  common  sign  of  indicative  past). 

kamil,  no.  murra,  very. 

ye«7,  merely  (as '  why  did  you  speak? '  Answer,  Ye'dl  ngaia  goe,  \just  spoke). 
ye'dlo,  further,  still,  any  more,  again.  ye'dUma,  as, 

(hence  the  adj.  yedlokwai,  like,  and)  yedlokwaimd,  in  hke  manner. 

ADVERBS  OF  PLACE. 
ngowo,  here.  ngari  or  aro,  there.  berii,  far,  deep. 

urribu,  very  far.  uriellona  or  nguriellona,  on  this  side. 

urrigdlina  or  narrikollinya,  on  that  side.  bigundi,  in  midst, 

w^ari  or  ngurri,  there, in  front.  tiilla'?  where? 

ngutta,  there,  on  the  right ;  also  meaning '  down  there.'    tui,  hither. 
ngurriba,  there,  on  the  left;  also  meaning  'up  there.' 
murra,  there,  behind.       urribatai,  from  above. 

ADVERBS  OF  TIME. 

yplddu  or  i/fTwit,  to-day,  now.  ngurra,  after. 

ilambo  or  ngurribu,  long  ago.  ydlwiinga,  always. 

nguruko,  tomorrow.  ngarageduli,  then  (at  another  time) . 

rtoVme,  yesterday.  ma^/o  or  ngerido,  for  one  day. 

mrii  ?  when  ?  kaiabar,  hastily. 

Among  the  adverbs  shoukl  l)c  named  the  interrogative 
yamma,  used  at  the  beginning  of  a  question  ;  as,  yamma  inda 
Kumiluroi  goalda  ?  =  do  you  speak  Kaiuilaroi  ? 


70 

The  most  striking  feature  in  the  languages  of  Australia  is 
the  numerous  and  exact  modifications  of  the  verbs.  Of  this 
a  few  examples  : — biima  is  the  root  meaning  '  to  beat ' ;  bumi 
or  gir  bumi  is  past  indie.  '  did  beat.' 

gir  bumalnge,  did  beat  to-day. 
gir  bumalnmn,  did  beat  yesterday. 
gir  bumallon,  did  l)eat  some  days  ago. 
Prea.  bunudda,  is  beating.  lm\mri\t.  bwm alia,  strike. 

Fut.  bumalle,  will  beat.  bumallawd,   strike  (emphatic   and 

bumalngar'i,  will  beat  tomorrow.  earnest). 

bumalmia,  strike  (ironical — "  if  you 
dare"). 

(This  ironical  imperative  is  a  regular  part  of  every  verb.) 

Subj.  bumaldai,  beat  (as  yelle  inda     Particii).  bmnaldendai,  beating;  bu- 

bumaldai,  if  you  beat).  malngendai,  having  beaten  ;  6m- 

Infin.  bumallago,  to  heat.  wia/?nie«c?fli,havingbeatenyester- 

day ;  humallendai,  going  to  beat. 

There  are  many  more  shades  of  meaning  which  they  express 
by  inflexions  of  the  verb;  causative,  permissive,  reciprocal 
and  reflective  modifications  or  voices,  more  numerous  than  the 
Hebrew  niphal,  piel,  hiphil,  liophal,  and  hithpael.  The  per- 
missive voice  of  buma  is  bumanabille,  which  I  learned  from  a 
black  fellow,  who,  at  my  request,  was  explaining  his  idea  of 
friendship  :  "  Kamil  Yarri  ngununda  bumanabille .^^  =  Harry 
will  not  allow-any -one-to-beat  me. 

At  present,  however,  I  am  not  prepared  to  give  with  cer- 
tainty the  exact  meaning  of  many  other  inflexions  which  I 
hear.  In  Mr.  Threlkeld's  grammar  of  the  Newcastle  and 
Lake  Macquarie  dialect,  the  following  inflexions  are  given, 
and  will  be  examples  of  the  minute  shades  of  meaning  ex- 
pressed by  inflexion  of  the  verb  : — 

bunkillin,  about  to  beat  at  any  future  time, 
bunkillikin,  about  to  beat  tomorrow. 
bunJcillikolang,  about  to  beat  by  and  by. 

In  the  reciprocal  voice — 

hunkillnn,  about  to  beat  one  another. 
bunkillaikin,  al)0ut  to  beat  one  another  tomorrow. 
bunkillaikolang,  about  to  beat  one  another  presently. 

The  regularity  and  exactitude  traceable  in  their  numerous 


77 


inflexions  are  surely  evidence  tliat  the  people  whose  language 
is  so  flexible  and  systematie  were  once  in  a  high  state  of 
intellectual  cultui'e ;  great  mental  acumen  still  characterizes 
the  race,  limited  as  the  sphere  of  their  thoughts  has  become. 

Alliteration  and  other  rules  for  euphony  are  remarkable 
featm'es  in  the  Australian  languages.  In  Kamilaroi,  no  word 
(that  I  have  heard  of)  ends  in  a  mute ;  though  a  liquid  con- 
sonant is  as  common  as  a  vowel  at  the  end  of  a  word.  When 
they  adopt  English  words  ending  in  mutes^  the  blacks  drop 
the  mute  or  add  a  vowel :  thus,  jimbugg,  a  slang  name  for 
sheep,  they  ^owaAjimbu  ;  and  pigs  they  caU  jiiggit.  This  nde, 
with  the  absence  of  the  aspirate  and  hissing  consonants,  gives 
a  peculiarly  soft  effect  to  their  speech ;  while  the  rattling  of 
the  r,  and  vehement  intonation  of  the  final  vowels,  give  it  a 
strong  character.  Instances  of  alliteration :  Walgerr  (name 
of  a  place)  with  the  suffix  -go  is  Walger-ro  (not  Walgerrgo) 
to  Walgerr ;  munmul  (a  stockyard)  with  -go  is  munmullo ; 
pirriwul  (a  chief)  with  the  suffix  -kako  is  pwriwullako. 

Another  pecidiarity  is  the  use  of  nouns,  adjectives,  and 
adverbs,  with  the  necessary  suffixes,  as  verbs :  from  mil  (the 
eye)  is  milmil  (to  see).  From  binna  (the  ear)  is  binna  (to  hear), 
having  the  regular  inflexions  binnange  binnamien  (past),  and 
binnalle  binnangari  (future). 

The  adverb  yo  is  used  as  a  verb,  meaning  '  afiu-m,  believe ' : 
ngaia  yo  =  '\  yes  it,'  or  '  I  believe  it.' 

From  andi  ?  '  who  ?  '  comes  the  verb  anduma,  '  say  who.' 
The  words  relating  to  hearing  are  also  applied  to  thought : 
binna  (the  ear)  means  also  '  thought ' ;  winungi  (verb  '  hear ') 
means  also  '  think,  believe' ;  generally  the  form  winungailun  is 
used  for  '  think.' 


NOUNS. 


Baiame,  God. 

wunda,  spectre,  angel,  dai^imv;  the 
common  appellation  of  white  men, 
who  were  supposed  to  be  spectres 
or  blacks  risen  from  the  dead. 

TurramuHun,  the  chief  of  the  wunda  ; 
author  of  craft ;  devil. 

giwir,  man. 

murri,  aboriginal  of  Australia. 


ina,  woman. 

kai,  child.  [N.B.  In  the  language  of 
the  Newcastle  tribe,  kore,  nukunr/, 
wonnai,  are  the  words  for  man,  wo- 
man, child.] 

yurai,  sun,  day. 

yille,  moon. 

mirri,  star. 

gunagulla  or  yuru,  sky. 


78 


ngarran,  light. 

ngiirTt,  daikncss. 

yuradtha,  daytime. 

nr/uriiko,  morning. 

burruwuddcla,  uoon. 

bulluliii,  evening. 

taon,  earth. 

wl,  fire. 

kolle,  water. 

yuro,  rain. 

gua,  fog. 

durunmi,  chief. 

bubd,  father. 

ngumba,  mother. 

gullor,  husband  or  wife. 

wurume  or  wurmnunga,  son 

ngumrmmga,  daughter. 

kumberri,  orphan. 

daicidi,  brother. 


ga  or  kaoga,  head. 
teg  til,  hair. 
ngfilu,  forehead. 
nguyin,  eyebrow. 
mil,  eye. 
dinmil,  eyelash. 
muro,  nose. 
muyuda,  nostril. 
ille  or  ngai,  lips. 
ira  or  yira,  teeth. 
^wZZe,  tongue. 
yare,  beard. 
binna,  ear. 
tdl,  chin. 

wwrw  or  dildll,  throat. 
nun,  neck. 

iiVn",  breast  (hence  birrije,  in  front  of). 
ngummu,  woman's  breast  or  milk. 
pilara,  shoulder-blade. 
wollar,  shoulder. 

giiria  or  6oo«,  back  (5aoa/e=behind). 
ban  gun,  arm. 

pupa,  great  muscle  of  arm. 
<m,  elbow. 


NOUNS  {continued). 

boddi  or  burengdli,  sister. 

karodi,  uncle. 

wurumungudi,  nephew. 

ngummungadi,  niece. 

haindul,  old  (infirm)  man. 

d'lria,  old  (grey)  man. 

mdmmi*,  old  woman. 

maredul,  a  childless  woman. 

burul,  a  full  man. 

kubbura,  a  young  man  who  has  at- 
tended bora,  but  is  not  fully  ini- 
tiated. 

yiramurrun,  great  boy. 

birri,  boy. 

birridtil,  little  boy. 

kirriga,  very  little  boy. 

mjp,  girl. 

miedul,  little  girl. 

kaingal  or  kaindul,  baby. 

Nouns  : — Parf*  o/"^Ae  iody. 
ngunuga,  wTist. 
murra,  hand,  fingers. 
gunederba,  thumb. 
bumbugal,  little  finger. 
bi'e'l,  knuckle. 
yulu,  finger-nails. 
numun,  side. 
turrur,  ribs. 
ki,  heart. 
kaogi,  lungs. 

mukkar  or  mogur,  kidneys. 
kdnna,  liver. 
mitbul,  abdomen. 
milla,  hip. 
turra,  thigh. 

tinbir,  knee  (compare  ^iw  =  elbow). 
buiyo,  leg. 
wuruka,  calf  of  leg. 
w^ror,  ankle. 
dinnu,  foot. 
tonga,  heel. 
gunederba,  great  toe. 
burra,  bone. 
bur  an,  vein. 


*  I  have  reason  to  believe  this  is  a  true  Kamilaroi  word,  and  not  taken 
from  the  colonists. 


79 


Nouns  : — Quadrupeds. 


yuraman,  horse.  [With  one  consent 
the  various  tribes  call  the  'horse'  by 
this  name  ;  I  know  of  no  explana- 
tion which  satisfactorily  accounts 
for  it.] 

burrumo,  dog. 


purrowa,  bustai'd. 

burenjin,  butcher  bird. 

waru  or  dumbal,  crow. 

biloela,  cockatoo. 

murgu,  cuckoo. 

karaga,  crane, 

urrung  aba,  diver. 

karangi,  duck. 

dinoitn,  emu. 

mollion,  eagle. 

kulgoi,  a  black  bird  much  like  a  barn^ 

door  fowl. 
mungaran,  hawk. 
gorraworra,  kukkuburra,  or  kukkurd- 

ka,  laughing  jackass. 

Reptiles 


yuggi,  murren,  or  mai-ai,  wild  dog. 

nulka  nulka,  horns,  horned  beasts. 

purgal,  cat. 

buggundi,  wild  cat. 

bundarr,  kangaroo. 

mide,  opossum. 
Birds. 

burrugabu,  magpie. 

buralga,  native  companion  (a  beau- 
tiful crane). 

bu-kut-ta  or  mung'i,  owl  (which  cries 
bu-kut-ta !). 

giddorfgd,  korugaii,  kobado,  parrots. 

gullawuUil,  crested  pigeon. 

tdmur,  bronze-winged  pigeon. 

momnmbai,  kollemurramurra,  other 
pigeons. 

b'lrumba,  plover. 

millimwnbul,  swallow. 

barrianmul,  swan. 

ko  or  kao,  egg. 


yabba,  nurrai,  snakes. 
kian,  centipede. 


guyao,  common  name  "  fish." 
dukkai,  the  best  fish  for  eating  on  the 
Barwan. 


dungu,  large  black  ant. 
burudtha,  large  red  ant. 
gTjd,  a  black  ant. 
muun,  green  ant. 
md,  fore-foot. 


tulTi,  tree,  timber,  stick. 
maidl,  acacia  pendula. 
kullaba,  box  (tree). 
hibil,  (white)  box. 
kubburu,  black  box. 
yeran,  gum  (tree). 

murgu,  oak  (a  tree  like  a  Scotch  fir). 
kitta,  gurari,  pine. 
bumbal,  sandal  wood. 
medtr,  karui,  yurar,  tlu'ee  species  of 
tree  like  the  acacia. 


gindurra,  frog. 
mungai,  lizard. 
Fish. 

guddu,  a  freshwater  cod. 
kumbal,  perch. 
kaikai,  jewfish. 
Insects. 

kdrlin,  small  sugar  ant. 
gunni,  bee. 
burrulu,  flies. 

mungin  or  mungul,  mosquitoe. 
baoa,  ftir.  yuli,  skin. 

Vegetable  Kingdom. 

goiirur,  yindal,  grass. 
yeremudd,  grass  (a  larger  sort). 
ngurigul,  an  edible  herb  like  sorrel. 
berdn,  an  edible  herb  like  mallow. 
merir,  a  shrub  like  broom. 
bendea,  a  prickly  shrub. 
c?Mrrmffo^fl/,  a  yellow-flowering  shrub. 
burdra,  sedge. 
munnabuda,  down  of  sedge. 


80 


kerran,  ashes. 
turrl,  blaze. 
terrian,  hail. 
gTuKjiirrima,  halo. 
taiijul,  hill. 
m'l,  lightning. 
tliubcr,  mist  before  rain. 
kiihba,  moiuitain. 
kinnul  or  yiiinl,  plain. 
kunildul,  small  plain. 
turrahul,  path. 
yiilowirri,  rainbow. 
knmbof/an  or  gerai,  sand. 


Nouns  : — Elements,  ^c. 
dfi,  smoke. 
yarul,  stone. 

yurul,  sornb  (woody  plain). 
tulumi,  tlnmder. 
maiPr,  wind. 
wdrumhu I,  watercourse. 
maian,  waterhole. 
ynl,  food. 
waddel,  honey. 
ti,  meal. 

melan,  water  potato. 
kubbiai,  yam. 


yiili  or  yl/i,  anger. 

ilnmbial,  beginning. 

bill,  jealousy(hence  iMZ-arai:=jealous). 

kuia,  gladness. 

nirrin  or  yiribrai,  edge. 

ngulu  or  muru,  end,  point. 

ivarun,  butt-end. 

yfl/,  falsehood. 


Nouns,  abstract  and  miscellaneous. 

uluge,  play,  delight. 


tubbia,  quietness. 
kiraol  or  kiru,  truth. 
ilane,  war. 
gurre,  word. 
kaiai,  love. 
ngerundama,  friendship. 


gial,  afraid. 

morun,  ngdrilon,  alive. 

warria,  awake. 

babi  nguraru,  asleep. 

bului,  black  (or  dark  colom"). 

kagil,  bad. 

duda,  brown,  chestnut,  bay. 

butta,  bitter. 

muga,  blind. 

kaoaraoa,  blue. 

bullurr,  clean. 

killu,  clear,  shining. 

karil,  cold. 

balliini,  dead. 

imgabinna,  deaf. 

biru,  deep  or  distant. 

ballal,  dry. 

loommo,  fat. 

wurraia,  first,  chief. 

^lare,  green. 

cZJri,  cflria,  grey. 


ADJECTIVES. 

murruba  or  kuppa,  good. 

muncin,  heavy. 

kuduaitina,  hot. 

baoirra,  high. 

beruge,  hollow. 

bularai,  jealous. 

burul,  large. 

gurar,  long. 

kubbonbd,  light. 

/j«jw,,  lame. 

yedlokwai,  like. 

-cZilZ,  like,-ly   (a  common   suffix  iu 

noims  diminutive). 
warungul,  mighty. 
ku'inbu  or  kanaibo,  near. 
mungal,  only. 
guiyungun,  own. 
(Zlria,  old. 
^Ir?<  (?irra  or  nguriella,  conceited  (in 

colonial  phrase  "too  flash  "). 
-arai,  -brai,  a  suffix  meaning  posses- 


81 


ADJECTIVES  {continued). 


sion  (ywi-arai = possessing  food  = 

full ;    jimbabrai  ^  sheep    owners  ; 

7niUimbrai=^hsLving  milk). 
-ngin,  a  suffix  meaning  want  {yul-ngin 

=hungi-y;      kolle-ngin  =  wanting 

water,  thirsty). 
mobulyal,  pregnant. 
kaiuburr,  quick. 
ko'imburra,  red. 
koikoi,  light  red. 
bungudul,  short. 
w'lbil,  sick. 
mullamulla,  soft. 
bullo,  bullowa,  slow,  enduring. 
kaindul,  small. 


nu'i,  stinking. 

bur  el,  stout. 

wdrunguldul   (dimin.   of  warungul), 

strong. 
ng'ipai,  strange  {ngipai  goallago=to 

say  strange  !  i.  e.  to  wonder). 
mor  or  wungar,  stupid. 
kuppa,  sweet. 
kuddiikuddu,  tall. 
woladul,  thin. 
ingil,  weary. 
pullar,  bungobd,  white. 
mungamunga,  wide. 
gerir  or  gunaguna,  yellow. 
kubbura,  young. 


ynal,  one. 
bularr,  two. 
guliba,  three. 


tubbianmulle ,  allay. 
korielle,  answer. 
taibu,  appear. 
baialdona,  appoint. 
kirulle,  arouse. 
taialle,  ask,  inquire. 
wmllunni,  barter. 
waddelina,  ginye,  be. 
yulalle,  bind,  wrap. 
yildona,  bite. 
giitalla,  boil. 
gunni,  break. 
kdnne,  bring  or  drive. 
kdugine,  bring  forth  (young). 
wurrimi,  build. 
wombi,  carry. 
kolli'e,  climb. 
duri,  come  (venio). 
yanani,  come  or  go  (eo). 
kundowalle,  cover,  shut. 
kdkuldona,  cry  out. 
kdrile,  cut. 
bdllubaiane,  die. 
morgi,  dig. 


Numerals. 

bularrbularr,  four. 
bularrguliba,  five. 
gulibaguUba,  six. 

VERBS. 

ngdfugi,  drink. 

tali,  tdldona,  eat. 

taialdona,  inquire. 

bunddne,  fall. 

gurrigurri,  fear. 

karaoele,  fight. 

pardne,  fly. 

wune,  give. 

bindelun,  hang  (neut.). 

bindemulle,  hang  (act.). 

wlnungi,  hear. 

kmimulta,  hold  fast. 

parri,  jump. 

dudunna  or  gigirma,  kick. 

ballubumalle,  kill. 

tirune  or  ivinungailun,  know. 

ngaikaiala,  kiss. 

kindami,  laugh. 

yirabaiane,  learn,  or  taste. 

tubbilun,  leave  oiF. 

tiome,  tiomulle,  lift,  raise,  open. 

wungurimi,  lose. 

gimbi,  make. 

murramulle,  make  by  hand. 


82 


VEK15S 

buialda,  make  by  chopping. 

baraile,  maruhildona,  make  by  split- 
ting wood. 

mitgyille,  make  or  ap]ioint. 

uimmoUi,  pinch. 

kuia  diirulle,  be  ])lcased. 

kdrmillc,  phinder. 

yercmulle,  pour. 

bukkanmulle,  prepare. 

maiablu,  put. 

maialdona,  put  up. 

wldldonu,  put  ilown. 

maiuJu,  quietly  to  act. 

buraine,  rend. 

kurrbille,  return. 

hunminyunne,  run. 

yuianwarayil,  save. 

nyummi,  see. 

klrumegti,  seek. 

wddla,  send. 

biilumbii/d,  shake  (as  the  surface  of 
water). 

bungatuilonu,  shine. 


{continued). 

kundowalle,  shut. 
nyuddelu  or  nyurria,  sit. 
bon/IJIria,  sing. 
bdbi,  babillofia,  sleep. 
bullildna,  slip. 
nyiny-nye,  sew  with  needle, 
c/wii,  spear,  pierce. 
wdrrumailun,  spread. 
warria,  stand. 
bumalla,  strike. 
dumulle,  strip. 
burunbulla,  sweep. 
yodldona,  talk. 
tdtulle  or  y'lrabaine,  taste. 
winunyaiiuna,  think. 
tdmulle,  touch. 
taraoele,  turn  away. 
wuryunbvmulle,  wash. 
yiinya,  weep. 
nylpai  goalla,  wonder. 
nimmi,  wound. 
burrunbailun,  work. 


In  the  above  list  doubtless  various  inflexions  are  added  to 
the  verbs  :  -ailun,  -ailona,  -dona,  -mulle,  are  frequent  suffixes ; 
of  which  -mulle  is  (I  think)  the  causative  suffix. 

There  are  no  inflexions  for  comparison  of  adjectives  that  I 
knoAv  of.  Different  degrees  of  intensity  are  expressed  by  into- 
nations : — to  make  heru,  'far/  mean  'very  far/  they  prolong 
the  sound  of  the  last  syllable  and  raise  the  key  of  the  voice ; 
the  longer  the  sound  and  the  higher  the  tone,  the  greater  the 
distance  expressed.  They  also  repeat  the  adjective  or  adverb 
often  enough  to  convey  the  idea  of  intensity  meant  by  the 
speaker;  and  use  adverbially  the  word  buml,  'great.' 

The  government  of  the  accusative  by  an  active  verb  is 
evident  in  the  case  of  the  personal  pronouns. 

The  accusative  is  generally  put  before  the  verb  ;  and  when 
more  emphatic,  before  the  nominative :  as — 

Yal  incla  goaldona  =  Lies  you  are  telling. 
KamiL  Kiru  nyaia  goaldona  =  No.    Truth  I  tell. 


83 

The  arts  of  emphasis  and  irony  they  well  understand,  and 
frequently  employ  to  give  animation  to  their  flexible  language . 

There  is  a  peculiar  system  of  caste  or  social  organization 
which  pervades  the  Australian  tribes.  There  are  four  classes 
of  men  and  four  of  women ;  every  indi^ddual  of  a  class  bears 
the  common  name  of  his  class. 

1.  In  some  families  (taking  the  word  'family^  in  its  most 
limited  sense,  including  only  one  generation)  every  son  is  called 
ippai,  every  daughter  ippdthd. 

2.  In  others  aU  the  sons  are  niurrl,  all  the  daughters  mat  ha 
(instead  of  murri  some  use  baia) . 

3.  In  others  all  the  sons  are  kubbi,  the  daughters  aU  kdpota. 

4.  In  others  all  the  sons  are  kumbo,  aU  the  daughters  butha. 
These  fom'  classes  of  families  include  all. 

On  this  classification  are  founded  the  following  rules  of 
marriage  and  descent : — 

I.  An  ijujai  may  take  for  a  wife  an  ippdtha  (of  another 
camp)  or  any  kapota ;  but  no  other. 

II.  A  murri  may  take  buthd  only. 

III.  A  kubbi  may  marry  an  ippdtha  only. 

IV.  A  kumbo  may  marry  a  mdtha  only. 

Any  attempt  to  infringe  these  rules,  except  where  the  ab- 
origines have  learned  from  the  colonists  to  make  light  of  the 
laws  of  their  forefathers,  would  be  unanimously  resisted  and 
punished  even  with  bloodshed;  although  within  these  rules 
polygamy  to  any  extent  is  allowed. 

RULES  OF  DESCENT. 

I.  The  children  of  ijjpai  by  ippatha  are  all  kumbo  and  hutha. 

II.  The  childi'en  of  ippai  by  kapota  are  all  murri  and  mdtha. 

III.  The  children  of  murri  are  ippai  and  ippdtha. 

IV.  The  children  of  kubbi  are  kumbo  and  butha. 

V.  The  children  of  kumbo  are  kubbi  and  kapota. 

By  these  rules  descendants  of  every  family  come  in  the 
course  of  a  few  generations,  by  turns,  into  the  prinleged  class 
of  ippai. 

Besides  the  above,  they  all  have  distinctive  names,  often 
taken  from  natural  objects  (animals  and  trees,  &c.). 


84 

In  the  hope  that  these  "  cm*iosities  of  an  unwritten  lan- 
guage "  may  be  regarded  as  a  proof  of  grateful  attachment  to 
alma  mater,  and  of  esteem  for  the  Professors  whose  instruction 
I  formerly  recei\ed, 

1  remain,  an  alumnus  of  University  College, 

William  Ridley,  A.B. 


TRANSACTIONS 


OF    THE 


PHILOLOGICAL    SOCIETY, 

1856. 


I.— ON  THE  CONNEXION  OF  THE  FINN  AND  LAPP 
WITH  THE  OTHER  EUROPEAN  LANGUAGES.  By 

Hensleigu  Wedgwood,  Esq. 

\_Read  January  I  lie  WthJ] 

In  the  second  volume  of  oiu'  Proceedings  (pp.  180-187), 
Professor  Key  lias  called  attention  to  remarkable  agreements 
between  the  grammars  of  the  Lapp  and  Finn,  and  of  the 
Greek  and  Latin  languages.  The  identity  is  occasionally  so 
complete,  that  it  is  truly  astonishing  how  it  can  have  been 
preserved  through  the  series  of  ages  which  must  have  elapsed 
since  the  Finns  and  Latins  can  have  separated  from  a  common 
stock,  or  even  have  been  in  such  close  communication  as  to 
exert  much  influence  on  each  other's  language.  One  or  two 
examples  may  be  added  to  those  given  by  Professor  Key. 
Thus  in  Lapp  cum  or  qjieim,  as  in  Latin,  is  '  with ' ;  mocuni, 
tocuni,  socum — mecmn,  tecum,  secum.  Lapp  ets  and  Finn  Use 
correspond  to  Lat.  ipse;  7non  ets,  ego  ipse.  The  particles 
ek,  ke,  ak,  ka,  are  used  in  Lapp  to  give  emphasis  to  the 
pronoun,  in  precisely  the  same  way  as  ce,  que,  in  Lat.  Thus 
from  tut,  hie,  ille,  is  formed  tatek,  hicce,  ace.  tabke ;  from  ka, 
(]ui,  kdke,  agreeing  in  form  with  quisque,  but  translated  ali- 
(piis.    \jVi\)\>  jam  is  used  much  nf^jam  in  Lat.  as  a  reference  to 

B 


2  HBNSLEIGH  WEDGWOOD,  ESQ., 

(.•crlaiii  circuinstimccs  airccting  tlie  action:  i»i  Ic  jam  tat'f — 
what  then  is  that?  putijam, — come  tlien. 

The  formation  of  the  Finn  lansrnaKCs  is  commonly  ex- 
plained  as  if  they  were  composed  of  two  distinct  parts,  viz. 
the  primitive  language  of  the  race  itself,  and  an  enormous 
importation  from  the  Scandinavian  peoples  with  whom  they 
are  mixed,  with  which  must  be  classed  numerous  words  bor- 
rowed from  the  Teutonic,  Slavic,  and  Lithuanian.  It  is 
however  hardly  possible  to  account  on  such  a  principle  for 
the  whole  of  the  ph?enomena  before  us.  No  doubt  a  great 
proportion  of  the  analogous  forms  must  be  considered  as 
directly  borrowed  from  a  Scandinavian  source ;  but  after  every 
allowance  has  been  made  for  such  an  influence,  a  large  amount 
of  resemblance  will  remain,  ofi'ering  the  same  kind  of  evidence 
in  favour  of  a  remote  community  of  origin,  as  in  the  case  of 
other  related  races,  as  the  Celts  and  Teutons,  Celts  and 
Slaves,  &c.  The  words  common  to  the  Finns  and  Slaves  or 
Lithuanians,  are  far  from  being  simply  or  even  chiefly  the 
names  of  objects,  the  use  of  which  may  be  supposed  to  have 
!)een  learnt  from  people  in  a  more  advanced  state  of  civili- 
zation, but  frequently  express  actions  or  abstract  notions 
which  must  be  conceived  by  nations  in  the  rudest  condition 
;  of  life.     We  may  cite — 

Finn palaan, pallata,  to  burn;  lioheui. paliti. 

—  ^Mo//,  half,  side,  middle;  Bohem. /ji/ie. 

—  lentaa  or  leta,  to  fly ;  Bohem.  letiti. 

—  wedan,  wetaa,  to  draw,  to  lead;  Lith,  and  Bohem. 
V    ^             tvedu,  westi. 

Lapp  wuoras,  old ;  Lith.  ivoras. 

—  jaure,  a  lake,  lAih.  jures  (plu.),  the  sea. 

—  pak,  paka,  heat;  Bohem. /veA:,  the  root  of  E.  bake. 
Nor  are  we  without  evidence  of  a  Celtic  connexion  of  similar 

nature — 

^  Finn  korsi,  stipula,  calamus;  W.  korsen,  a  reed. 

—  kannan,  kantaa,  to  bear,  carry,  hold;  W.  cannu,  to 
hold,  as  a  vessel. 

—  jjullo,  thick  bark,  cork,  the  floats  of  a  net;  Gael,  bolla, 
'^^           a  net  or  anchor  buov.     -       t^yi'-O       G-^    ^  &>dC 


c^'  r 


if  ''*  '  ■    ^--« 

ON   THE  FINN  AND  LAPP  LAN6UAGES.  .  3 

Lapp  bmve,  slieep^  cattle ;  W.  b?no,  an  ox,  kine. 

—  wele,  more ;  W.  r/well,  better,  in  a  greater  degree. 

—  liahra,  a  goat ;  AV.  (jafr. 

Finn  jcdke,  footstep,  hinder  part,  behind;  W.  ol  in  the 
same  sense.  ^   "^  a-- 

—  yfir//?w,  hindmost ;  W .  olof.        '     '  '-■%*> 

—  jdliUen,  remaining,  the  rest;  W,  olion,  things  left 
behind,  refuse. 

—  jallen,  back  again,  at  last ;  W.  yn  ol,  back,  back  again. 

—  osata,  to  hit  the  mark,  to  aim  right,  to  be  able  to  do ; 
osattaa,  to  aim  at ;  osaella,  to  try  to  do.  W.  osio,  to  try  to 
do;  E.  to  OSS. 

—  sota,  war,  battle;  sotia,  to  fight.     W.  cad;  G.  cath. 
Lapp  kakkel,  a  distaff;  W.  cogel. 

Many  isolated  words  are  common  to  the  Finn  and  Scan- 
dinavian languages  without  corresponding  words  in  the  other 
branches  of  the  Gothic  stock.  The  whole  of  these  are  broadly 
ascribed  by  Ihre  (than  whom  there  is  no  more  acute  or  ju- 
dicious philologist)  to  a  Finn  origin,  and  in  one  important 
instance  at  least,  it  seems  certain  that  the  course  of  language 
has  run  in  this  direction. 

The  Icel.  negative  is  ei,  eigi,  Dan.  ikke,  corresponding  to 
Finn  ei,  e'lka ;  eikd-eika,  neque-nec.  Now  the  Icel.  ei  is  an 
adverl3,  applying  equally  to  all  persons,  while  Fiim  ei  is 
appropriated  to  propositions  of  the  third  person,  being  part  of  a 
regular  conjugation,  en,  et,  ei,  emme,  ette,  eiioat,  non  ego,  non 
tu,  &c.  As  conjugations  of  such  a  nature  were  contrary  to 
the  idiom  of  the  Scandinavians,  they  seem  to  have  adopted  for 
general  use  the  negative  of  the  third  person,  from  the  far 
greater  frequency  with  which  propositions  of  that  form  would 
occur  than  those  of  the  first  and  second  persons.  It  is  certain 
then,  that  because  a  word  is  common  to  a  Finn  and  Scan- 
dinavian language,  it  cannot  be  assumed  that  it  is  necessarily 
borrowed  by  the  former  from  the  latter. 

A  considcral)le  list  may  be  made  of  Finn  forms  and 
corresponding  ones  in  Greek  and  Latin,  either  without  inde- 
pendent analogues  in  the  Teutonic  languages,  or  only  such  as 
are  more  distantly  related  than  the  classical  forms : — 

B  2 


4^- 


4  HENSLEIGH  WEDGWOOD,   ESQ., 

Finn  onk\,  a  fislihook ; — Gr.  o^kt],  o'^ko^;,  a  hook,  a  barb. 

—  onkulo,  a  nook; — a'yKv\o<;,  crooked;  ayKaXtj,  the  bend- 
ing of  tlie  arm. 

—  kampcin,  crooked; — Ka/ji7rv\o<i. 

—  ivuori,  a  mountain ; — opo<i. 

—  nujykia,  to  low ; — /xvKaofxai. 

—  icros,  male  of  animals,  ^own  man,  strong  man,  hero ; 
uro-teko,  factum  heroicum ; — i)p(o<i. 

—  kommata,  graviter  sono  \\i  campana,  vas  vacuum; — 
Kofxireiv,  to  ring,  to  clang. 

—  mamma,  a  breast ;   Lat.  mamma. 

—  markcta,  to  fade ;  Lat.  marc-escere. 

—  murheh,  grief;  Lat.  mcpror. 

—  orpo,  orphan;  Lat.  orba. 

—  orwitseta,  to  deprive  of  parents,  to  disinherit;  Lat. 
orbare. 

—  panen,  panna,  to  place ;  Lat.  pono. 

—  porsas,  a  pig ;  Lat.  porcus. 

—  oras,  a  boar ;  Lat.  verves. 

—  ihminen,  a  man ;  Lat.  homo  {homin) . 

—  ivaimoinen,  womanly;  IjoX.  femininus. 

—  werma,  firm,  trusty ;  Lat.  firmus. 

—  wermasti,  firmly ;  Lat.  firmiter. 

—  waras,  a  thief;  Lat.  fur ;  Russ.  vor. 

—  umrkahin,  secretly ;  Lat.  furtim. 

—  wiho,  greenness,  green  fi'uit;   wihanta,  wiherid,  wi- 
heriainen,  green;  Lat.  viridis. 

—  wihota,  wihertda,  Hung,  virit,  viriil,  to  be  green,  to 
flourish ;  Lat.  vireo,  viresco. 

—  ^^;^7^^,  frost;  Lapp j a fe,  cold;  Ijoi.  gelu. 

—  ajaa,  to  di'ive;  Lat.  agere. 

—  ryokia,  to  belch ;  Lat.  eructo. 

—  krapista  ;  Lat.  crepare,  crepitare. 

—  krajnstus;  Lat.  crepitus,  crepitaculum. 

—  7)«7)?<,  beans,  pulse;  Lat. /a6o;   Hung.  5a6;  Vo\.  bob. 

—  polly,  dust,  snow  driven  about  by  the  wind;    Lat. 
pulvis,  pollen. 

—  ohra,  barley;  Lat.  hordeum. 


ON   THE  FINN  AND  LAPP  LANGUAGES.  O 

Finn  kaula,  the  neck ;  Lat.  collum. 

—  ulivoa,  to  howl ;  Lat.  ululo. 

—  sarpa,  a  reed ;  Lat.  scirpus. 

—  kara  or  sara,  sedge ;  Lat.  carex. 

—  sarawisto  or  sarawikko ;  Lat.  carectum. 

—  salawa,  a  willow,  sallow ;  Lat.  salix. 

—  salawisto,  salaivikko  ;   Lat.  salictum. 

—  salata,  to  hide,  conceal ;  Lat.  celo. 

Hence  sala,  anything  hidden,  the  locative  case  of  which, 
salaan,  is  used  adverbially  in  the  sense  of  secretly,  in  a  hidden 
place,  clam. 

Finn  salainen,  clandestine ;  Lat.  clandestinus . 

Lapp^>a/e;i,  in  the  presence  of;  Lat.  palam. 

Ynva.  pyytia,  to  seek,  to  invite;  IjoX.  peto. 

—  puhdas,  pure ;  Lat.  purus,  putus. 

—  puhtaus,  purity,  cleanliness. 

—  suola,  salt ;  Lat.  sal. 

—  kallo,  the  scalp,  forehead,  skin  of  the  forehead ;  Lat. 
calva,  callus. 

—  jM-kallo,   crust  of  ice  covering   the   ground ;    Lat. 
callwn,  applied  to  the  hard  surface  of  the  ground. 

—  kail  okas,  shoe  of  raw  hide ;  1  t    j.        / 

^  ,      .  /  >Lat.  calceus. 

Lapp  kallok,  shoe  of  skin  of  reindeer ;  J 
Finn  kakistaa,  kikottaa,  to  chatter  as  a  pie,  laugh  Joud ; 
Lat.  cachinno. 

—  ddri,  margin,  edge;  Lat.  or-a. 
Lapp  hapos,  a  horse ;  Gr.  liriTO^. 

—  pir,pira,  about,  around ;  Finn  piiri,  a  circle ;  Gr.  irepi. 

—  walla,  but;  Gr.  aXka. 

—  waoke,  form,  likeness;  Gr.  et/co9. 

—  wuokak,  like,  equal ;  wuokas,  fit,  convenient ;  Gr.  eocKa, 
to  be  like,  to  be  fit. 

—  ara,  early,  soon;  Gr.  T)pL. 

—  aina,  ainak,  only,  single,  simple;  Lat.  unicus ;  Lith. 
ivenns,  wenokas. 

—  all,  high ;  Lat.  alius. 

—  aletet,  haletet,  to  fly;  Lat.  ales  (alii),  bird. 

—  ah',  air  a,  copper;  Lat.  as  {fpr)  ;  Lith.  waras. 


6  /"  ^^   HENSLEIGH  WEDGWOOD,  ESQ., 

Lapp  j)iiU}staa,  to  i)ult'  up,  to  swell ;   indli,  a  flask ;   Lat. 
ampulla. 

—  puUikoitsita,  to  speak  in  an  inflated  niaiinej' ;  Lat.  aia- 
pullari. 

—  buola,  puola,  a  bit ;  Lat.  bolus. 

—  ruopses,  red ;  Lat.  ruber. 

—  taibet ;  Lat.  debere,  oportere. 

—  kona,  kuna,  ashes;  Lat.  cinis;  Gr.  /covi?. 

—  wade,  a  ford ;  Lat.  vadum. 

—  juomits,  a  twin  ;  Lat.  gemellus ;  Fr.  jumeau. 

—  jarbcs,  round ;  Lat.  orbis. 

—  kaivuk  (flexuosus,  cm'vus) ;  Lat.  cavus,  hollow. 

—  muorje,  a  berry ;    Lat.  morum,  a  mulberry ;  Wallach. 
mour,  a  blackljerry. 

—  mostos,  out  of  humour,  sorrowful ;  Lat.  moestus. 

—  harret,  to  growl ;  Lat.  hirrire. 

—  kattjett,  to  fall ;    Finn  kadota,  to  perish ;   Lat.  cadere. 

—  sanahet,  to  endeavour ;  Lat,  conari. 

—  sariva,  sarives,  an  entire  reindeer ;  Lat.  cervus. 

The  Finn  sarwL  Hung,  szaru,  szarv,  a  horn  (whence  szarvas, 
horned,  also  a  stag),  show  the  radical  meaning  of  Lat.  cervus, 
and  at  the  same  time  bring  Finn  sarwi  into  correspondence 
with  Gr.  /cepa?  and  Lat.  cornu.  Other  Avords  ^\\\c\\  prima  facie 
we  should  suppose  to  be  borrowed  from  a  Scandinavian  source, 
are  found  also  in  Hungarian,  a  language  which  has  not  un- 
dergone the  same  mixtiu'e  with  the  Gothic  tongues,  and  may 
thus  put  forward  a  fair  claim  to  be  considered  as  part  of  the 
original  stock  of  the  language.  No  one  would  doubt  that 
Lapp  garde,  a  hedge,  inclosed  place ;  gardot,  to  hedge ;  garden, 
a  farm ;  Finn  kartano,  a  yard,  court,  were  borrowed  from  Sw. 
gard,  a  yard ;  garde,  a  field ;  gdrda,  to  fence,  and  the  like, 
were  it  not  that  the  Hungarian  has  kert,  a  garden ;  kerit,  kertel, 
to  inclose;  keritek,  kertelez,  an  inclosure,  curtilage,  hedge. 
So  we  have  Lapp  ivaret,  to  keep,  to  guard ;  Finn  warrota,  to 
watch,  observe,  wait  for;  ivartia,  a  watchman,  guard,  appa- 
rently borrowed  from  Sw.  ivara,  to  observe,  and  its  deri- 
vatives, but  the  same  root  is  preserved  in  Hung,  vdr,  to  wait 
for ;    vdr,  a  fortress ;    vartu,  a  watch    or  guard.     The  Finn 


ON  THE  FINN  AND  LAPP  LANGUAGES,  7 

niesi,  meden,  honey,  agrees  on  the  one  hand  with  Lith.  medus, 
Slav,  med,  Lat.  mel ;  and  with  W.  niedd,  E.  mead,  a  drink 
prepared  from  honey,  while  on  the  other  it  is  shown  to  be  a 
genuine  Ugrian  word  by  the  Hung,  mez,  honey.  So  Finn 
loesi,  water,  lake ;  loesinen,  wetinen,  watery,  AV£t ;  wettya,  to 
become  full  of  water;  Hung,  viz,  water,  river.  Lapp  nikke, 
nekke,  the  neckj  Hung,  nyak.  Lapp  lapa,  the  sole  of  the  '•^/^ 
foot ;  Finn  lapa,  a  blade,  as  shoulder-blade,  blade  of  an  oar, 
might  be  supposed  to  be  borrowed  from  a  Gothic  root  corre- 
sponding to  E.  laj),  flap :  but  the  Hung,  has  lap,  flat  side, 
plate,  leaf;  lapoczka,  shoidder-blade,  spatula,  shovel. 

The  Finn  languages  are  extremely  rich  in  words  ex- 
pressing different  kinds  of  sounds,  and  there  is  hardly  a  page 
in  the  dictionary  without  some  word  translated  by  parum 
crepo,  strepo,  strideo,  susurro,  murmur o.  As  a  specimen  may 
be  cited  koliista,  kolista,  komista,  kopista,  korista,  tihista, 
tikista,  tirista,  titista,  wikista,  ivilista,  winista,  hohista,  ha- 
wista,  jumista,  morista,  nirista,  porista,  sohista,  &c.,  with 
almost  every  possible  combination  of  the  two  consonants,  and 
every  variation  of  the  vowel  by  which  they  are  connected  in 
the  radical  syllable.  Of  such  words  as  the  foregoing,  many 
are  represented  by  similar  forms  in  Swedish,  German,  or 
English,  but  very  many  have  no  corresponding  terms  in  those 
languages.  Now  as  long  as  direct  imitation  is  a  living 
principle  in  the  use  of  a  word,  the  primary  cause  of  the 
articulation  is  apparent  on  the  face  of  it,  and  there  is  no 
occasion  to  seek  the  origin  in  another  language  in  which  the 
same  image  may  be  represented  by  a  similar  sound,  uidess 
overwhelming  evidence  of  borrowing  be  forced  upon  us  from 
other  quarters. 

The  syllable  slam  is  used  in  Swedish  and  English  as  well  as 
in  Lapp  to  represent  a  loud  noise ;  Sw.  slamra,  to  jingle,  jabber,        /_ 
to  talk  idly  (Widegren.) .     In  Lapp  slam,  a  noise,  nialme  slam,     ^   ,- 
strepitus  verborum   {;tdalme,  the  mouth),  uksa  slamketi,  'the    ^ y^ 
door  was  slammed,^  jaima  cum  strepitu  chmdebatur;  slamem,    -^  ""    ^^' 
ruin,  fall.    Here  the  imitative  force  of  the  word  is  as  manifest       C,       '  - 
in  Lapp  as  in  English.     And  there  seems  as  little  reason  for 
supposing   that  the  word  must   have  been  borrowed  by  the 


8  HENSLEIOH  WEDGWOOD,  ESQ., 

Laps  from  the  Swedes^  as  vice  versd.  The  same  root  seems  to 
be  truly  represented  by  the  Latin  clamo,  clamor,  as  we  have 
seen  many  instances  in  which  a  Finnish  s  corresponds  to  a 
Latin  c.  In  the  same  way  it  is  probable  that  there  may  have 
been  no  direct  borrowing  in  any  of  the  following  examples  : — 

Finn  natista,  leviter  crcpo  nt  mus  rodcns ;  G.  hiattern,  to 
patter ;  Dan.  ynaddre,  to  grumble,  growl. 

Finn  naputtaa,  Icvitcr  ico,  crepito ;  napista,  napsaa,  leviter 
crepo,  murmuro,  strcpo  ut  dcntcs  in  manducando ;  G.  knap- 
IH'fH  ;   Sw.  knapra,  to  gnaw. 

Finn  narrata,  stridco,  crcpo  ut  cardincs  janua? ;  G.  knarren  ; 
Sw.  knorra,  to  murmur,  gruml)lc,  growl. 

Film  porata,  porista,  vocifcror,  cbullior ;  Du.  borre/en,  to 
pur/,  to  bubble  up,  or  in  Flemish  to  vociferate;  Port,  bor- 
borinha,  yoc'iferaiion;  Y'mn poret,  a  bubble;  O.^.  a  burble. 

Finn  hossottaa,  le\dter  ferio,  e.  g.  vestes  vergis ;  Fr.  housser, 
to  switch. 

Finn  kikka,  singultus,  hiccough;  Fr.  ho  quel ;  Sw.  hicka. 

Lapp  suokket,  sjuoketet,  to  sob ;  Sw.  sucka. 

Finn  huiska,  scopa  minor  lavationi  apta,  a  ivhisk ;  huiskata, 
hue  illuc  cursitare,  huiskua,  hue  illuc  j actor  ut  arbor  vento, 
huiskuttaa,  hue  et  illuc  nioveo,  (piasso,  ut  canis  caudam ; 
huiskiitan  wettaa,  I  splash  water  about ;  hutskutus,  quassatio. 

Finn  humata,  humista,  to  hum,  to  sigh  as  the  wind  among 
trees;  leel.  umra,  kumra,  to  murmur. 

Finn  huuiaa,  clamo,  vocifero,  to  hoot;  huuto,  clamor, 
voeiferatio,  rumor,  fania  vagans. 

Finn  Jmrrata,  hmista,  susurro,  ut  aqua  fluens  vel  apes 
volantes,  to  whirr ;  Sw.  hurra,  surra. 

Finn  kummata,  kummista,  to  sound  as  a  large  bell ;  kimista, 
acute  tinnio,  to  chime ;  kumina,  resonance. 

Another  argument  in  favour  of  a  connexion  of  very  old 
standing  between  the  Finn  and  other  European  languages, 
may  be  drawn  from  the  numerous  cases  in  which  it  enables  us 
to  explain  words  without  apparent  derivation  in  their  own 
lane-uaee.  One  of  the  cases  of  Finn  sama,  the  same,  is 
samalla,  in  the  same ;  samalla  muodolla,  in  the  same  manner ; 
but  samalla  alone  is  used  elliptically  in  the  sense  of  '  at  the 


ON  THE  FINN  AND  LAPP  LANGUAGES.  » 

same  moment/  agreeing  with  Lat.  simul.  A  somewhat  dift'erent 
modification  of  the  same  root  in  a  widely  different  language, 
gives  Malay  samo-samo,  together,  from  samo,  the  same, 

Lapp  kastas,  wet;  kastatet,  to  wet,  to  baptize,  seems  to 
indicate  the  idea  of  washing,  as  the  origin  of  the  Bohem. 
cisty,  clean,  pure,  chaste  (whence  cistiti,  to  cleanse,  and 
cistenia,  a  cleansing  or  av ashing  place,  a  cistern),  and  of  the 
Lat.  cast  us,  chaste. 

The  name  of  the  domestic  cock,  Finn  kukko,  Hung,  kakas, 
is  derived,  like  that  of  so  many  animals,  from  the  sound  by 
which  we  imitate  his  cry;  Finn  kukkua,  cuculo,  cucurio; 
Lith.  kukti,  to  crow,  to  hoot;  Bohem.  kokrhati,  to  crow. 
From  the  upright  strut  of  a  cock,  the  term  is  then  applied 
to  whatever  cocks  or  stands  up,  as  a  cock  of  hay,  &c.  In 
Finn  kukku  is  the  pile  in  heaped  measure ;  kukkelo,  kukkura, 
the  top  of  a  mountain,  aflFording  a  plausible  explanation  of 
Lat.  cacumen. 

Lapp  kukke,  long ;  kukketet,  to  prolong ;  kukkehet,  to  think 
or  find  it  long ;  kukkelastet,  to  remain  long,  to  delay ;  Finn 
kokottaa,  to  expect,  wait  for,  delay,  exhibit  a  root  which  might 
easily  pass  into  Lat.  cunctari.  The  origin  of  these  words  seems 
to  lie  in  Finn  koko,  a  heap  or  pile,  applied  in  a  secondary  sense 
to  the  structure  or  stature  of  the  body,  whence  ko'okas,  tall, 
great.  The  local  cases  of  koko  are  used  in  the  sense  of  the 
Lat.  con,  together,  as  Jw«7^e  kokoon  or  ko'olle,  bring  into  a 
heap,  place  together;  tuleivat  kokoon  or  kd'olle,  they  come 
together ;  and  as  the  second  k  is  actually  lost  in  one  of  these 
forms,  it  is  not  difficult  to  suppose  that  kokoon  may  be  the 
exact  equivalent  of  Lat.  con. 

Again^  koko,  in  composition,  is  used  in  the  sense  of  totus, 
omnino ;  koko-kyld,  the  whole  village ;  koko-mies,  a  complete 
man ;  kokona,  kokonansa,  Avholly,  entirely ;  kokonainen,  whole, 
unbroken.  Thus  the  Lat.  cunctus  might  be  derived  from  the 
same  root  with  cunctari  and  with  the  preposition  con. 

The  expression  of  relations  of  place  by  reference  to  parts  of 
the  body  is  worthy  of  remark.  From  Finn  koriva,  an  ear,  is 
derived  the  expression  for  nearness,  by  the  side  of,  '  locuis 
juxta  quid,  ut  aures  juxta  caput;'  on  tien  korwa/la,  if  is  by 


10  HENSLEIGH   WEDGWOOD,   ESQ., 

the  side  of  the  road,  litcrully  iu  the  car  of  the  road  ;  kurwainen, 
by  the  side  of,  about.  In  like  maimer,  hdnta,  a  tail,  is  used 
in  the  locative  cases  in  the  sense  of  behind,  and  probably 
explains  the  origin  of  that  word.  Kaypi  hdundssani,  he  comes 
at  my  tail,  comes  after  me ;  juokse  sen  hdntudn,  run  after  him ; 
hdntyre,  a  follower;  hdnnittdd,  to  follow  any  one  close,  in- 
seetor  quern  quasi  ad  caudam. 

Finn  rataan,  raduta,  to  squeak,  creak,  crcpito  ut  mus, 
currus,  aflbrds  a  plausible  derivation,  as  well  of  the  rat,  the 
scjucakcr,  as  of  Finn  ratus,  Lat.  rota,  a  wheel,  the  creaking 
of  which,  before  the  use  of  grease,  wovdd  be  a  most  obtrusive 
characteristic.  The  plural  rattaat,  as  Lith.  ratai,  is  used  iu 
the  sense  of  a  chariot,  whence  perhaps  Lat.  rlitda.  The 
origin  of  Lat.  carrus  and  E.  car,  carry,  may  in  like  manner 
be  fomid  in  Finn  karista,  strideo,  crepo;  G.  garrezen 
(Schmeller) ;  Icel.  karra,  to  jar,  to  creak. 

Finn  kalkkata,  to  clank,  sonum  edo  crcpantcm  ut  ferrum 
in  cudendo,  suggests  a  natural  origin  of  Gr.  ')(a\Ko<i,  brass ; 
and  Lapp  maret,  to  roar,  rush,  murmur,  of  mare  the  sea,  the 
TToXf^Xotcr/So?  daXacraa. 

Lapp  suokket,  sjuoketet,  Sw.  sucka,  to  sigh,  correspond  to 
Lat.  si)ig~\\\i\\^ ;  and  in  the  same  way  Finn  tomu,  sonus 
gravis,  tumvdtus,  pidvis,  to  Lat.  tum-vXtus,,  Avhere  the  same  con- 
nexion may  be  noticed  as  in  our  own  language  between  kicking 
up  a  dust  and  making  a  disturbance.  Finn  tomista,  to 
make  a  deep  sound,  to  make  a  dust ;  tohu,  strepitus,  tumidtus, 
pulvis.  So  G.  getibnmel,  confused  noise,  hurly-burley,  bustle. 
The  syllable  torn  is  used  in  other  languages  as  representative 
of  a  heavy  sound,  as  in  the  Indian  tom-tom ;  a  drum,  and  iu  a 
list  of  onomapoietic  words  given  by  Dr.  Latham  in  '  The 
Varieties  of  Man,^  as  spoken  by  the  half-breeds  in  Oregon,  is 
turn,  a  hea\n(r  noise ;  tum-wata,  a  waterfall.  From  the  same 
source  is  doubtless  W.  tiompio,  Fr.  tomber,  to  fall,  tumble. 

The  feelings  of  discontent,  grief,  anger,  are  naturally  desig- 
nated by  words  derived  from  the  murmuring  sounds  uttered 
vmder  those  emotions.  Thus  fi'om  G.  jammern,  to  wimper  or 
wail,  is  jammer,  grief;  from  murren,  to  grumble,  murrisch, 
peevish,  morose.     So  in  Finn  morista,  muristu,  to  growl,  to 


ON  THE  FINN  AND  LAPP  LANGUAGES.  11 

be  discontented;  murrus,  mentis  indolis  miirmiirans,  indig- 
natio,  tristitia;  murahtaa,  subito  murmuro  ut  canis,  obmur- 
muro  ut  homo  iracundus ;  murheh  or  murhet,  sorrow^  grief, 
distress,  corresponding  to  Lat.  moereo,  moeror.  In  like  manner 
Finn  surrata,  to  whizz  or  buzz,  S\v.  surra,  to  buzz,  to 
murmur,  lead  to  Finn  suru,  grief,  sorrow ;  surra,  to  grieve ; 
surrua,  surkua,  to  be  sorrowful.  Analogy  then  woidd  lead 
us  to  suppose  that  ira  might  be  connected  with  hirrire,  to 
snarl,  which  loses  the  initial  h  in  irritare  (properly,  to  cause 
to  snarl),  to  provoke,  and  in  support  of  such  a  supposition 
may  be  cited  Finn  hy7'istd,  to  hum  or  buzz ;  hdrista,  arista, 
to  snarl,  to  snort  with  anger,  to  be  angry  and  surly; 
haristilu,  to  cause  to  snarl,  irritare;  dri,  ii-acunde  hirriens, 
iracundus,  morosus ;  drind,  hirritus,  murmuratio,  iracundia. 

From  Finn  muu,  other,  is  formed  muutoin,  otherwise; 
muuttaa,  to  transfer  to  another  place,  to  change  to  another 
form,  to  change  clothes,  horses,  comitenance ;  G.  umdndern, 
verdndern.  Hence  may  be  derived  Lat.  muto  in  analogy 
with  Gr.  aXkaaao),  to  change,  from  aX\.o<;,  and  G.  dndern, 
fi'om  ander. 

The  sound  of  catching  the  breath,  as  in  sobbing  or  choking, 
is   imitated   by   the    syllable    nick   or   nack.     Thus   we    are 
informed  by  Lieut.  Burton  (Pilgrimage  to  Medina,  i.  222), 
that  to  'nakh,'  in  vulgar  as  in  classical  Arabic,  is  to  gurgle 
ikh  !  ikh  !  in  the  bottom  of  one's  throat  till  the  camel  kneels 
doAvn.     With  an  initial  s,  snickujj  or  sneckup  was  formerly 
used  in  E.  for  hiccough.     In  Hung,  we  have  nyog,  to  sob,  to 
groan,  nyekken,  to  make  a  bleating  sound ;  Lapp  niakket,  to 
sob,  to  liickup,  and  in  Fimi  nikka,  a  sob ;  nikottdd,  to  cause 
to  sob ;  nikistaa,  to  choke,  to  suffocate,  halitu  privo,  strangulo ; 
nikahtua,  to  be  suffocated.     Then,  as  the  cessation  of  breath 
is  the  first  sign  of  death,  to  stop  the  breath  and  to  choke,  are 
frequently  applied  to  any  kind  of  violent  death.     Thus  G. 
wurgen,  the  equivalent  of  E.  worry,  of  which  the  primary  sig- 
nification is  to  choke  or  strangle,  is  also  used  in  the  sense  of 
killing,  massacrcing,  cutting  the  throat ;  einen  schaf  iviirgen, 
to  kill  a  sheep.     So  Dan.  quoile,  to  strangle,  choke,  smother, 
is  the  equivalent  of  E.  kill ;  A.-S.  qualstow,  a  place  of  death. 


1^  HENSLEIGH  WEDGWOOD,  ESQ., 

cwylan,  to  die.  In  tlic  siinie  way  it  is  probable  that  Lat. 
necare,  to  kill  (generally  as  we  are  told  ai)plicd  to  putting  to 
death  without  a  weapon),  is  analogous  to  Finn  nikistua,  to 
suffocate.  And  that  the  primitive  sense  of  the  word  was 
never  entirely  lost  sight  of,  is  witnessed  by  the  use  of  necare, 
negate,  in  Mid,  Lat.  (Dicz,  from  the  Burgundian  laws)  in  the 
sense  of  drowning,  whence  It.  annegare,  Fr.  noyer.  From  the 
same  root  is  probably  the  name  of  the  water-demon,  Lapp 
Nik,  Finn  Nakki,  Iccl.  Nikr,  Sw.  Nucken,  '  genius  fluvioruni, 
homines  cu])ide  aquis  submergens,'  often  supposed  to  be  the 
origin  of  '  Old  Nick,'  the  familiar  designation  of  the  devil. 
But  that  expression,  as  has  elsewhere  been  pointed  out,  is 
really  derived  from  a  different  development  of  the  root  in 
Pl.-D.  Nikker,  the  executioner,  '  the  old  executioner,'  from 
Flem.  necken,  A.-S.  hncecan,  to  slay,  in  which  the  meaning  of 
the  word  has  undergone  the  same  transition  as  in  Lat.  necare. 
The  same  fundamental  image  would  supply  a  satisfactory 
designation  of  the  word  neck,  which  we  must  then  suppose  to 
have  been  first  applied  to  the  throat,  from  the  guttural  sounds 
imitated  by  the  syllables  nik  or  nak ;  so  in  G.  gurgel,  the 
^  throat,  fi'om  the  gm-gling  sounds  which   it  produces.     The 

diversion  of  meaning  in  G.  nacke,  Fr.  nuque,  to  the  back  of 
the  neck,  need  cause  little  difficulty, 

Finn  painaa,  to  weigh  down,  to  be  heavy,  to  press ;  paino, 

weight,  pressure ;  paini,  depression,  curving  downwards,  seem 

radically  connected,  not  only  with  Lat  poiiduii,  a  weight,  but 

pando,  pandare,  to  bend,  weigh  down ;  pandus,  curved,  and 

fV,^  also  with  TTovo?,  labour,  the  lifting  a  weight  being  the  most 

obvious    type  of  labour   in  general.     The   term    is  in  Finn 

'SJ  also  applied  to  exertion  of  force,  as  in  pomiistaa,  to  do  any- 

-^^^  thing  with  great  exertion,  to  string  a  bow,  G.  spannen,  in 

which  probably  the  same  root  is  contained.     As  over-exertion 

becomes  highly  painful,  ttow?  is  used  in  the  sense  of  pain, 

^'^  suffering,   distress,   grief.     The  word  pain  itself  is  probably 

'^  from  the  original    sense  of  the  Finn  root  painaa  to  press, 

whence  A.-S.  pinan^  to  torture;  Du.  pyn,  ache,  pain.     To 

>a  pine  or  languish  is  to   suffer  pain.     Pain,   in   the  sense  of 

'^  punishment,  from  Lat,  pcena,  Gr.  iroivi)  and  punio,  to  punish. 


ON  THE  FINN  AND  LAPP  LANGUAGES.  13 

are    radically    distinct,   being    derived    from    the    cnstoni    of 

making  reconciliation  by  paying  tlie  price  of  blood,  from  Gr. 

^ovo<i,  offering  an  example  of  a  phsenomenon  whicli  has  been 

/n    frequently  pointed  out,  where  the  convergence  of  meanings 

//'/originally  widely  different  in  words  of  similar  sound  has  ended 

/  in  the  coalescence  of  the  words  themselves. 

The  mention  of  iroLvrj  as  the  price  of  blood,  suggests  a 
much  more  natural  derivation  than  the  one  usually  given 
of  the  A.-S.  wera,  the  weregild  or  penalty  to  be  paid  to 
the  relations  of  the  slain  man,  in  Finn  weri,  Hung,  ver, 
blood,  making  weregild  the  precise  equivalent  of  the  G. 
hlut-geld. 

The  Lat.  puniceus,  purple,  Gr.  <f)oivi^,  red  {cfyoLviaa-a  (f)\o^) , 
are  commonly  supposed  to  have  reference  simply  to  the 
peculiar  dye  in  which  the  Tyrians  or  Phoenicians  excelled. 
But  this  may  perhaps  be  an  early  instance  of  false  etymology, 
as  Gr.  (f)otvo<i,  ^oivioq,  blood-red,  seems  to  point  to  a  con- 
nexion with  (f)ovo<i,  blood,  bloodshed,  similar  to  that  of  Hung. 
voros,  red,  \^ith  ver,  blood.  A  like  connexion  may  be  seen  in 
Finn  puna,  red  colour ;  /*?/m^/ffG,  to  stain  with  red ;  puna-tauti 
[tauti,  illness),  dysentery  or  discharge  of  blood.  The  primary 
origin  may  perhaps  be  Goth,  fori,  funins,  fire,  whence  funisks, 
fiery,  may  be  compared  with  Gr.  (fioovi^ ;  and  a  similar  relation 
may  be  observed  between  puTpureus  and  nrvp,  fire. 

From  Finn  madan,  mataa,  to  creep  or  crawl ;  Hung,  masz, 
to  creep,  is  formed  inato,  matikko,  a  worm,  maggot,  explaining 
Icel.  madkr,  a  niawk  or  maggot,  and  G.  made,  a  maggot, 
mite,  as  well  as  E.  moth,  a  designation  which  Avould  first  be 
applied  to  the  larva  by  which  the  mischief  is  done,  and  se- 
condarily to  the  winged  insect  into  which  it  changes. 

Lapp  sjuddet,  to  hum  or  buzz,  explains  Sw.  sjuda,  G.  sieden, 
E.  seethe,  to  boil. 

Finn  pulata,  to  splash,  as  a  duck  in  diving,  or  fish  in 
jumping;  pulahtaa,  to  spring  as  a  fish,  to  dive,  to  fall  into 
the  water,  analogous  to  G.  spiilen,  to  wash,  to  rinse,  and 
probably  to  Sw.  spillu,  to  spill  or  splash  over,  seems  the 
origin  of  pula,  an  opening  in  the  ice,  and  W.  j)wl,  E.  j^ool,  a 
piece  of  water. 

From  Finn   tiukkua,    to   pipe  or  make  a  shrill  soinid,   is 


14  HENSLKIGH  WEDOAVOOD,   ESQ., 

probal)ly  derived  Lapp  tjuk,  the  young  of  birds  or  quadrupeds, 
as  of  dogs  or  cats,  Hung,  tyuk,  a  chicken,  fowl.  Hence  might 
arise  provincial  E.  tyke,  a  dog,  originally  a  young  dog,  then 
an  affectionate  expression  for  the  animal  independent  of  age. 
The  colliers  in  the  north  always  speak  of  their  bull-dog  as 
'  the  pup.'     A.-S.  bridda,  is  a  young  bird ;  It.  piccione,  pip- 

,       inone  (whence  the  E.  pigeon),  is  properly  a  young  pigeon, 

(  .    from  the  peeping  sound  of  a  young  bird. 

'  Lapp  ivikke,  a  fault,  ivikkalati,  guilty ;  Finn  wika,  a  l)odily 

defect,  injury,  moral  fault ;  tvikainen,  guilty,  seem  to  preserve 
the  origin  of  E.  ivicked. 

Finn  karsta,  soot,  and  hence  dirt,  filth,  explains  G.  yarstiy, 
nasty,  filthy. 

The  syllable  mut  or  muk  is  mdely  taken  as  representative 
of  a  low  inarticulate  sound,  the  least  audible  sound,  whence 
G.  mukken,  mucksen,  Lat.  mutire,  muttire,  Gr.  f^v^w,  fxv^w, 
to  utter  such  a  sound.  The  analogues  in  Finn  are  mutista, 
mytista,  mussito,  susurro,  whence  mutina,  a  murmuring  (ex- 
plaining mutiny,  a  murmuring  among  soldiers),  and  mytiainen, 
culex  minor,  from  the  humming  of  the  gnat,  leading  to  the 
derivation  of  G.  m'dcke,  a  midye,  from  the  other  form  of  the 
root,  muk.  The  name  of  the  ynat  is  probably  derived,  on  the 
same  principle,  fr^om  the  syllable  nat,  which  is  used  as  repre- 
sentative of  a  low  indistinct  soimd,  in  Finn  natista,  leviter 
crepo  ut  mus  rodens,  and  in  Dan.  ynaddre,  to  grumble,  gi'owl. 
From  muk  is  formed  Finn  myhkia,  mussito,  clam  loquor,  su- 
surro, Dan.  mukke,  to  mutter,  Finn  mykaista,  to  hush,  to  for])id 
one  even  to  mutter;  mykystya,  to  be  silent;  mykka,  dumb 
(as  Lat.  mutus  from  mut) ;  mykkyri,  homo  taciturnus  vel 
occvdtus;  G.  mucken,  to  keep  a  sm-ly  silence.  Hence  a 
numerous  class  of  words  applied  to  doing  a  thing  secretly,  as 
G.  meuchel-mord,  clandestine  murder,  assassination;  Sw. 
i  mjuyy,  secretly,  underhand ;  le  i  mjugy,  to  laugh  in  one's 
sleeve  ;  E.  huyyer-muyyer,  clandestinely,  privately,  and  con- 
sequently shabbily,  in  a  disorderly  manner,  agreeing  very  much 
with  Finn  myhky-mahkin,  temere,  sine  ordine.  The  addition 
of  an  initial  s  gives  Sw.  y  smyy,  smygwis,  clandestinely; 
smyya,  to  slip  in,  to  do  a  thing  secretly ;  smyya  sig  pa  nagon, 
to    spy  one,    explaining  Fr.  mouchard,  a  spy ;    5m//r/-handel, 


ON  THE  FINN  AND  LAPP  LANGUAGES.  15 

secret  dealing,  smmjfjling ',  smvya,  a  hole,  comer,  hiding- 
place  ;  Icel.  smiugr,  snmga,  a  hole,  a  crack,  narrow  opening ; 
smeigia,  Dan.  smoge,  to  slip  on ;  Icel.  smocka  ser  inn,  to  slip 
into  something  jnst  big  enough.  Hence  smockr,  a  sheath,  a 
tube,  and  E.  smock,  a  dress  that  you  slip  into. 

From  Finn  hoJata,  holista,  to  give  a  hollow  sound  (einen 
dumpfen  Laut  erregen),  as  that  of  the  flowing  of  water,  or 
murmuring  of  a  crowd,  holo,  anything  hollow ;  7io/o-puu,  a 
hollow  tree.  So  fi-om  kopista,  to  thump,  to  sound  hollow 
(dumpf  tonen),  are  formed  kopina,  sonus  ex  pulsu,  and  kopano, 
caudex  arboris  cavus  pidsu  resonans,  which  seems  essentially 
the  same  Avord  with  Lat.  campana.  The  corresponding  form 
in  Gr.  Koiravov,  a  pestle,  is  applied  to  the  instrument  which 
gives  the  blow,  instead  of  the  body  which  receives  it.  The 
nasalized  form  Aco//7re&),  to  clang  or  ring, — 

KOfMTret  ^aX/co9  eirt  arriOecraL  (paecva, 
leads  to  ]\Iid.  Lat.  campana,  as  a  modification  agreeing  very 
closely  in  sense  with  Finn  kopano,  to  which  it  answers  in 
form,  in  the  same  way  as  Sp.  timbal,  a  kettledrum,  to  Arab. 
tabl  (Burton,  Pilgrimage  to  Medina),  atabal.  The  name  ori- 
ginally given  to  a  drum,  like  those  of  the  South  Sea  islanders, 
composed  of  a  hollow  block  of  tree,  and,  in  a  more  advanced 
state  of  the  art,  to  the  instrument  made  by  stretching  a  skin 
over  the  mouth  of  a  brazen  vessel,  would  naturally  be  pre- 
served when  the  sound  was  produced  by  strildng  against  the 
metal  itself,  when  the  kettledi'um  would  become  a  bell.  The 
usual  derivation  of  campana,  from  bells  being  first  used  at 
Nola  in  Campania,  is  a  most  improbable  one,  even  if  the  fact 
were  true.  They  plainly  would  not  have  been  known  by  that 
name  in  Campania  itself,  and  if  the  instrument  had  spread  in 
such  a  manner  from  a  single  centre,  the  Campanian  name 
woidd  probably  have  travelled  with  it.  But  the  whole  story 
is  in  all  probability  a  myth,  founded  solely  on  the  fact  that 
bells  were  known  by  the  two  names  of  Nola  and  Campana. 
Now  as  bell  is  from  the  imitative  root  which  gives  Icel.  belia, 
boare;  G.  bellen,  to  bark,  and  E.  bellow  (templorum  campana 
boant.  Due),  and  G.  glocke,  E.  clock  (originally  a  bell),  from 
the  root  which  survives  in  Fr.  chujuer,  E.  clack,  Bohem.  hluk, 
din,  noise,  so  doubtless  nola  is  from  G.  knall,  a  loud  noise,  as 


16  HENSLEItiH   WEDGWOOD,   ESQ., 

the  i'c|)()il  ol'  ;i  j^uii,  crack  ul'  a  wliip,  >ls.c.,  the  E.  representative 
of  which  [ktu'll]  is  appropriated  to  the  clang  of  bells'^. 

Other  modifications  of  the  root  kop,  as  representing  a 
sounding  blow,  are  Gr.  Kv/j,^o<i,  KUfM^r),  any  hollow,  especnally 
a  hollow  vessel,  cnp,  basin,  boat ;  Ku/x^aXov,  a  cyndjal ;  and 
iu  Finn  kopio,  vacuus,  resonans  ut  vas  vacuum ;  koppa,  caviim 
quid,  a  cup ;  Lapp  kdppe,  hollow ;  kopera,  excavatus,  concavus, 
curvus ;  and  as  another  form  of  kopera  is  kowera,  the  p  passing 
easily  into  a  iv  in  Finn,  Ave  are  brought  through  the  La})p 
kiwivat,  to  holloAV  out,  kaivut,  to  crook,  to  l)end,  kawak, 
flexuosus,  curviis,  to  the  Lat.  cavus,  as  an  offshoot  from  the 
same  root. 

The  E.  worth,  W.  gwerth,  price,  has  a  plausible  derivation  in 
the  Finn  wero,  the  equivalent  of  Lapp  wvoro,  vicis,  a  turn  or 
time  (whence  wuorom,  by  turns,  sometimes),  although  the  Finn 
word  is  not  given  as  having  that  signification  in  the  nomi- 
native. But  in  what  is  called  the  elative  case,  werostu,  it  is 
used  as  Lat.  vice,  for  '  in  the  place  of,  instead  of,'  and  hence 
comes  to  signify,  Avhat  is  of  the  same  value  with.  Thus, 
I  eat  cheese  instead  of  bread;  I  take  corn  instead  of 
money ;  I  stand  in  the  place  of  a  man,  i.  e.  I  reckon  as  a 
man ;  ancient  custom  stands  in  the  place  of  laAv,  has  the  force 
or  validity  of  law.  The  adjective  iveroinen  is  in  like  manner 
applied  to  what  stands  in  the  place  of,  is  of  the  same  value  or 
estimation  with,  and  hence  werta,  Avhat  may  supply  the  place 
of  or  be  compared  with  anything,  what  is  equal  in  respect  of 
quantity  or  value,  worth-,  sen  werta,  so  much;  kouraan 
werta  rahaa,  a  handful  of  money  {koura,  the  grasping  hand) ; 
werteinen,  par,  sequalis;  wertaan,  werrata,  to  compare;  iver- 
taus,  comparison,  parable. 

The  Lapp  waro,  merx,  wares,  Finn  wara,  copia,  opes,  goods, 
might  appear  simply  borrowed  from  Sw.  wara,  merchandise, 
but  the  origin  of  the  Avord  is  shoAvn  so  clearly  in  the  Finnish, 
that  that  language  may  faii^ly  lay  claim  to  an  original  right  in 
it.     The  radical  sense  seems  to  be  simply  provisions,  what  is 

*  This  derivation  of  campana  is  supported  by  the  Albanian  kemboig, 
koumboig,  I  ring,  resound,  sound ;  kambune,  kembone,  koumbone,  a  cattle- 
or  ohurch-bell. — Ilahn. 


ON  THE  FINN  AND  LAPP  LANGUAGES.  17 

provided  beforehand,  from  wara,  foresight,  caution,  warning ; 
warata,  to  beware,  to  make  provision ;  wura-mies,  a  supple- 
mental man,  a  man  provided  to  take  the  place  of  another ; 
ivara-huonet,  a  barn,  a  pro\ision-house ;  taka-wara,  provision 
for  the  fiitm-e  {taka,  after) ;  warustaa,  to  provide  one  with 
necessaries,  to  fit  one  out,  to  arm.  Hence  Lapp  warjo,  arms ; 
G.  wehr ;  ivaret,  warjet,  to  keep,  to  guard. 

Lapp  welkes,  white;  welkotet,  to  become  white,  to   grow  /^ 

pale,  Finn  walkia,  white,  walawa,  whitish,  explain  G.  welken, 
E.  welk,  vjclewe,  to  wither,  fade,  decay  : —  j    -.^  /_^. 

"  The  which  was  whilome  grene  gras, 
Is  welewed  hay  as  tyiiie  now  is." — Gower  in  Halliwell. 
So  in  Latin,  pallescunt  frondes,  they  wither. 

Fimi  ivako,  Lith.  ivaga,  wagas,  a  furrow,  give  a  most  satis- 
factory explanation  of  E.  wake,  the  fuirow-like  track  left  by 
an  object  moving  through  the  water,  for  which  however  it  is 
remarkable  that  the  Finn  has  a  distinct  word,  wana,  trans- 
lated '  fiirchen-ahnliche  spur '  by  those  who  had  no  thought  of 
the  connection  of  the  English  word  with  the  Finn  wako. 

From  Finn  salata,  to  hide,  keep  secret,  the  equivalent 
apparently  of  Lat.  celare,  has  been  shown  the  origin  of  an 
adverb  salaan,  corresponding  exactly  to  the  Lat.  clam.  The 
opposite  palam  seems  also  to  have  its  analogue  and  expla- 
nation in  Lapp  palen,  the  locative  of  pale,  a  time  or  turn 
(vicis) .  Akta  palen,  once ;  tann  pjalen,  at  that  time ;  tax  pali 
(in  the  plural),  those  times,  formerly;  peiioe  palen,  in  the 
day-time ;  mo  palen,  in  my  presence ;  weres  dlmai  palen,  in 
the  presence  of  witnesses  {weres  alma,  literally  a  man  uncon- 
nected by  blood,  a  witness).  The  ultimate  root  seems  to  be 
the  Finn  palaan,  pallata,  to  turn,  return,  to  roll. 

Among  the  agreements  pointed  out  by  Professor  Key  in 
the  Paper  above  alluded  to^  is  Lat.  c<bcus  with  Finn  sokia, 
blind ;  which  is  supported  by  the  number  of  cases  in  which 
we  have  seen  a  Finn  initial  s  correspond  to  a  Latin  c.  Now 
sokia  in  Finn  appears  to  be  derived  from  sakaan,  sa'ata,  to 
mix,  to  trouble,  to  make  thick ;  sakia,  thick,  turbid ;  sekainen, 
sekaiva,  mixtus,  promiscuus,  confusus,  perturbatus,  baud 
clarus,  e.  c.  aqua,  intricatus,  obscuratus,  e.  c.  oculus,  seu  visus. 

c 


{< 


18  a.  F.  WEYMOUTH,  ESQ., 

Hcuce  soka,  what  troubles  or  obscures,  as  a  mote  in  the  eye, 
di'cgs  or  sediment  in  water ;  sokainen,  turbid,  impure ;  so- 
kenen,  soeta,  to  become  turbid,  to  become  blind ;  sokaan, 
soata,  to  make  water  foul,  turbid ;  sokaistus,  making  turbid, 
bliuding.  In  the  same  way  the  G.  triibe  is  used  of  any  defect 
of  brightness  or  transparency  and  also  of  sight :  truhes  wasser, 
trlibes  wetter,  and  tr'vbe  amjen.  "We  speak  of  a  dull  glass, 
dull  weather,  and  dull  of  sight. 

But  possibly  the  same  Finn  root  may  give  the  derivative 
also  of  Lat.  secale,  rye,  which  is  spoken  of  by  Pliny  as  a  fertile 
but  inferior  gi-ain,  hardly  eatable  by  itself,  tantum  ad  ar- 
cendam  famem  utile,  which  it  was  usual  to  mix  with  another 
grain, — admiscetur  huic  far,  ut  mitiget  amaritudinem  ejus. 
Now  Finn  sekuli,  sekali,  signify  any  kind  of  mixed  food, 
though  the  former  is  chiefly  applied  to  a  mixture  of  barley 
and  oats,  the  latter  to  one  of  greens  and  pease.  Thus  Lat. 
secale  would  be  equivalent  to  G.  mengkorn,  Sw.  bland-korn. 


II.— ON  THE  LIQUIDS,  ESPECIALLY  IN  EELATION 
TO  CEETAIN  MUTES.  By  E.  F.  Weymouth,  Esq. 
\^Read  January  the  25lh.^ 
The  special  phsenomenon,  the  consideration  of  which  led  to 
the  writing  of  the  following  paper,  though  not  the  only  sub- 
ject treated  in  it,  is  the  insertion  of  certain  miates  in  Greek 
and  other  languages  into  certain  pairs  of  liquids.  This, 
though  the  bare  fact  is  one  with  which  every  scholar  is 
familiar,  has  perhaps  never  yet  been  sufficiently  accounted 
*--  for.  Matthias  says,  speaking  of  i^fi^poTov,  ifi/Bpafievrj,  &c. : 
"  These  are  probably  not  mere  poetic  licences,  but  relics  of 
old  forms.^^  Like  Pott  before  them,  Jelf  and  Latham  simply 
%3^  ^S^  apply  the  epithet  "  euphonic"  to  the  intruding  mute.  Don- 
aldson predicates  of  the  Greek  ear  "  a  particidar  aversion  to 
the  immediate  concurrence  of  /jX,  fip,  &c." 

In    order   however   to    arrive    at    a  just    solution    of  the 


■^ 


ON   THE   LIQUIDS,   IN   RELATION    TO  CERTAIN   MUTES.  19 

problem,  it  is  necessary  carefully  to  investigate  the  character 
and  mode  of  formation  of  the  letters  concerned,  and  especially 
of  the  so-called  liquids,  which,  except  by  the  Sanskrit  gram- 
marians, have  rarely  been  satisfactorily  dealt  with  in  the 
classification  of  the  alphabet.  Not  only  do  we  find  one 
liquid,  which  plays  a  somewhat  conspicuous  part  in  Greek, 
and  stiU  more  in  our  own  language,  commonly  ignored; 
but  even  when  the  list  of  liquids  is  complete,  a  distinction 
of  considerable  importance  that  subsists  between  certain 
of  them  is  often  altogether  overlooked.  In  Dr.  Latham's 
works  I  have  not  found  any  allusion  to  it.  Professor  Key, 
in  his  admirable  Essay  on  the  Alphabet,  affords  us  only  a 
rapid  glimpse  of  it.  The  distinction  in  question  is  however 
pointed  out  in  Heyse's  German  Grammar,  to  which  I  have 
this  moment  referred,  where  he  describes  r  and  /  as  mund- 
laute,  and  ni  and  a  as  nastnlaute  (vol.  i.  p.  326). 

The  liquid  above  alluded  to,  as  commonly  excluded  from 
the  list— and  that  even  by  Heyse,  although  it  is  quite  as 
important  an  element  in  the  German  language  as  in  Greek 
or  EngHsli — is  of  course  the  ng  of  kiiKj,  song,  rung;  kiln  gen, 
meinung ;  and  the  7  of  e^X'^'^>  dyKoXr],  &c.  Of  this  Dr. 
Latham  observes  :  "  The  simple  sound  is  related  to  n  and  g  in 
a  manner  that  has  not  yet  been  determined."  (Eng.  Lang, 
first  edition,  p.  110.)  This  relation  then  it  is  important  for 
our  present  purpose  that  we  endeavour  to  determine.  But 
Dr.  Latham's  later  researches  afibrd  no  assistance.  In  1855 
he  afiirms :  "  Ng  is  no  true  consonant,  but  a  vowel  of  a 
peculiar  character,  i.  e.  a  nasal  vowel,  formed  by  the  passage 
of  air  through  the  nostrils  instead  of  the  lips."  (Handbook, 
2nd  edition,  p.  144.)  Of  the  argument  that  seems  to  be 
implied  in  this  last  clause,  it  is  not  difficult  to  dispose. 
It  seems  tolerably  plain,  that  with  equally  good  reason  m  and 
n  may  be  described  as  '^Wowels  of  peculiar  character,  i.  e. 
nasal  vowels,  formed  by  the  passage  of  air  through  the 
nostrils  instead  of  the  lips."  Word  for  word,  and  letter  for 
letter,  the  statement  contained  in  the  latter  clause  Avill  hold 
good  "mutato  nomine,"  and  therefore  the  same  inference 
may   be  drawn,  if  the   reasoning   is    conclusive.     It  is    not 

c  2 


20  K.  1'.  WEYMOUTH,   ESQ., 

necessary  for  me,  so  far  as  my  present  pm-pose  is  concerned, 
to  give  definitions  of  a  vowel  and  of  a  consonant  respectively  ; 
but  it  would  be  a  singular  definition  indeed  that  woidd  include 
ny  in  the  list  of  vowels,  and  not  embrace  n  and  7it  also. 
These  three  consonants  possess  just  this  one  striking  feature 
in  common,  that  when  we  pronounce  them,  the  breath  jjasses 
not  throtigh  the  lips,  but  through  the  nostrils.  We  will  how- 
ever approach  them  from  another  quarter. 

In  many,  perhaps  most,  langiiages  of  civilized  nations, 
there  are,  as  in  English,  just  six  explosive  consonants ;  that  is 
to  sav,  consonants  for  the  articidation  of  which  all  exit  of  the 
breath  is  restrained  by  a  complete  stoppage  of  the  orifice 
of  the  mouth,  preparatory  to  a  sudden  outburst.  These  are 
the  two  classes  of  mutes  which  we  usually  call  the  tenues  and 
the  medicE ;  in  Greek  tt,  k,  t,  and  /3,  7,  S.  All  the  other  con- 
sonants are  continuous — the  liquids  included. 

Again,  the  terms  tenues  and  media  are  commonly  applied 
only  to  the  six  mutes  just  mentioned.  But  the  difference 
that  subsists  between  them  is  found  also  to  distinguish  certain 
other  pairs  of  sounds,  as  the  English  s  and  z,  or  the  French 
ch  andy,  which  are  equivalent  to  the  middle  consonant  sounds 
in  lashing  and  measure.  Now  if  those  physiologists  are  right 
who  attribute  tins  difference  to  the  relaxation  of  the  vocal 
chords  of  the  larynx  when  tt,  ic,  t,  are  sounded,  and  the 
tension,  and  therefore  vibration,  of  these  same  chords  when 
the  media  and  similar  consonants  are  pronounced,  so  that 
with  these  latter  there  is  a  more  perfect  sound ;  perhaps  the 
names  surd  and  sonant,  adopted  in  some  of  oui*  Sanskrit 
grammars,  best  express  this  distinction.  In  this  sense  the 
liquids  are  all  sonant.  In  this  they  agree  with  the  medial 
mutes  j  in  being  continuous,  not  explosive,  they  differ  from 
them. 

Can  the  comparison  be  carried  fiu-ther  ?  Yes,  if  we  exclude 
the  mundlaute  r  and  /,  and  confine  our  consideration  to  the 
three  remaining  liquids  m,  ng,  and  n.  These,  so  far  as  the 
mouth  alone  is  concerned,  might  be  termed  explosives,  and  as 
sonant  explosives  they  would  identify  themselves  with  /3,  7,  8, 
which  they  closely  resemble.     Thus  in  sounding  both  h  and 


ON  THE  LIQUIDS,  IN  RELATION  TO  CERTAIN  MUTES.  21 

m,  the  tongue  lies  passive,  and  the  lips  are  tightly  closed,  so 
that  no  breath  escapes  thence.  Comparing  the  final  con- 
sonants of  rug  and  rung,  we  find  in  each  that,  while  the  mouth 
is  open,  the  body  of  the  tongue  is  pressed  against  the  palate, 
and  thus  the  orifice  of  the  mouth  is  completely  stopped.  So 
is  it  with  d  and  n,  to  sound  both  of  which  the  tip  of  the 
tongue  is  pressed  against  the  palate,  and,  though  the  mouth 
is  open,  no  exit  is  afibrded  for  the  breath.  Thus  these  letters 
pair  off'  most  amicably,  the  difference  in  each  case  being  the 
following. 

In  the  English  language  the  liquids  m,  n,  and  ng,  and  in 
other  languages  these  same  sounds  or  such  modifications  of 
them  as  occur,  alone  are  sounded  by  the  aid  of  the  nasal 
cavity.  All  others,  including  the  remaining  liquids  r  and  /, 
are  Avhat  Heyse  calls  mouth-sounds.  More  accurately  thus : 
in  pronouncing  m,  n,  and  ng,  the  pendulous  portion  of  the 
velum  palati  is  lowered,  so  that  the  breath  passes  through  the 
nose  instead  of  through  the  mouth.  In  sounding  all  the  other 
letters,  vowels  included,  this  soft  palate  is  raised  so  as  to  touch 
the  back  of  the  pharynx,  and  thus  the  nasal  cavity  is  entirely 
closed.  Yet  not  entirely  in  the  case  of  those  persons,  either 
on  this  or  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  who  speak  with 
what  is  not  unaptly  termed  a  "  nasal  twang." 

To    distino-uish    the    nasal    from    the  non-nasal  letters,   a 


^to 


simple  but  decisive  experiment  is  to  hold,  while  sounding  any 
vowel  or  consonant,  a  small  looking-glass  (or  the  blade  of  a 
penknife,  or  any  similar  object  presenting  a  polished  surface, 
and  cold)  horizontally  against  the  upper  lip,  with  the  bright 
surface  upwards;  this  surface  will  then  be  dulled  by  the 
breath  only  when  m,  n,  and  ng  are  produced,  or  when  there 
is  the  "nasal  twang^.'^  While  trying  this  experiment,  we 
cannot  fail  to  perceive  how,  the  moment  the  velum  palati  is 

*  This  suggestion  has  already  been  made  by  the  present  writer  in  a  few 
observations  on  a  part  of  this  subject  that  have  appeared  in  the  Adver- 
saria of  the  Cambridge  Journal  of  Classical  and  Sacred  Philology,  No.  fi, 
p.  .333.  But  the  presumed  interest  of  the  subject  as  a  whole  to  the  general 
philologer,  seemed  to  warrant  its  somewhat  fuller  treatment  in  a  more 
•ippropriate  place. 


22 


K.   r.  WKYMOUTH,  ESQ., 


lowered,  h  changes  into  m,  d  into  n,  and  g  (hard)  into  ng ;  or, 
when  we  raise  it,  m  is  turned  into  b,  n  into  d,  and  ng  into  g. 

But  tlie  fact  that  these  consonants  are  related  in  some  such 
Avay  is  sufficiently  established  by  the  experience  of  any  one 
who  is  suffering  from  a  bad  cold  in  the  head,  such  experience 
not  being  pleasant,  but  profitable  nevertheless  to  the  phi- 
lologer.  At  such  a  time  made  becomes  bade;  tongue,  tug; 
pain, paid;  and  so  forth.  In  the  Welsh  and  Irish  languages 
moreover  this  affinity  of  b,  d,  g  (hard),  to  m,  n,  ng,  is  fully 
recognized,  the  change  from  the  former  to  the  latter  being 
termed  "  aspiration  ^^  in  the  grammars ;  but  I  have  nowhere 
met  with  a  satisfactory  attempt  to  explain  the  exact  nature  of 
this  affinity. 

We  have  now,  I  hope,  succeeded  in  fixing  the  relation  of 
ng  io  g ;  showing  it  at  the  same  time  to  be  fully  coordinate 
with  n  and  m, — not  less  a  liquid  than  either  of  these,  nor  on 
the  other  hand,  as  it  has  been  I  think  inaccurately  described, 
"a.  more  complete  nasal." 

As  to  r  and  /,  which  differ  so  materially  from  m,  n,  and  ng, 
it  seems  to  be  not  a  happy  arrangement  by  which,  in  the  clas- 
sification of  the  alphabet,  these  are  all  herded  together.  It 
would  seem  far  preferable  that  these  two  non-nasals  should 
retain  the  name  by  which  they  were  known  to  the  Greek 
gi'aramarians,  of  semivoivels  {rj/xlcpcova) .  This  name  we  now 
commonly  apply  only  to  w  and  ij,  but  in  fact  r  and  /  (and 
indeed  the  sibilants  also)  approach  quite  as  nearly  as  do  they 
to  the  nature  of  vowels :  they  can  just  as  readily  be  sounded 
by  theniselves,  and  with  just  as  little  use  of  the  more  active 
organs  of  speech;  and  they  as  readily  combine  with  other 
consonants  to  form  what  almost  seems  a  single  articulation ; 
so  that  if,  notwithstanding  the  presence  of  the  iv  or  the  y  in 
the  spoken  words  divell  and  thivack,  or  duke  and  7ieivt,  we 
may  yet  consider  them  as  all  but  biliterals  (disregarding 
voAvels  of  course  in  the  use  of  this  term),  so  we  may  regard 
trap  and  drill,  or  gleam  and  Jlat,  notwithstanding  the  pre- 
sence of  the  /  or  the  r. 

At  length  therefore  we  are  in  a  position  to  consider  why 
"  euphony"  changes  pS/xXerat  into  /xep^XeTUi,  contracts  avepo<i 


( 


ON   THE  LIQUIDS,  IN  RELATION  TO  CERTAIN  MUTES.  23 

into  dvhp6<i,  and  so  forth.  In  tlie  transition  from  the  /i  to 
the  X,  and  from  the  v  to  the  p,  besides  the  other  changes  in 
which  the  hps  and  tongue  are  concerned,  the  velum  palati 
must  be  raised  to  close  the  nasal  orifice.  In  fact,  therefore, 
the  process  is  divided  in  such  instances  as  these  before  us,  and 
the  transition  made  by  halves,  the  orifice  being  closed  first, 
and  the  other  changes  effected  afterwards.  But  thus,  we  find 
at  the  intermediate  stage  of  the  transition,  the  m  has  become 
b,  the  n,  d,  and  the  ng,  g ;  and  this  constitutes  the  so-called 
euphonic  insertion  of  the  mute"^. 

It  cannot  fail  to  be  observed,  that  as  yet  it  has  been  as- 
sumed that  the  Greek  /3  and  S  were  equivalent  to  our  b  and  d; 
although  those  letters  are  pronounced  by  the  modern  Greeks 
much  more  like  our  v  and  sonant  th;  and  it  is  at  least  probable, 
as  is  Matthias's  opinion,  that  they  have  preserved  the  true 
ancient  pronunciation  of  these  letters.  But  if  we  adopt  this 
supposition,  and  these  consonants — classed  by  the  gram- 
marians with  the  a<f)(ova — were  thus,  to  use  Plato's  expression, 
(pcovrjevra  fiev  ov,  ov  fxevrot  ye  acjidoyya,  being  continuous  in- 
stead of  explosive ;  then,  inasmuch  as  the  orifice  of  the  mouth 
win  not  be  quite  closed  in  pronouncing  them,  the  resemblance 
that  they  bear  to  ?n  and  ti  respectively  becomes  somewhat  less 
marked ;  yet  the  difference  is  but  slight,  and  they  will  still,  as 
to  the  precise  mode  of  their  articulation,  occupy  an  intermediate 
place  between  in  or  n  and  the  succeeding  non-nasal  consonant. 

The  individual  phaenomena  upon  which  light  seems  to  be 
thrown  by  the  foregoing  remarks,  are  readily  divisible  into 
the  following  classes  : — 

I.  Those  in  which  the  mute  is  inserted  between  a  nasal 
liquid  and  a  following  consonant.  Of  this  kind  are  the 
Greek  words  already  discussed,  with  several  others — cifx/Spo- 

*  Since  this  paper  was  read  to  the  Society,  a  friend  has  informed  me 
that  I  have  been  anticipated  in  these  views — to  what  extent  I  am  not 
aware — by  a  German  writer  little  known  on  our  side  of  the  Channel.  In 
1838,  n.  E.  BiNDSEiL  published  at  Hamburg  the  first,  and  as  yet  onl}', 
volume  of  his  '  Abhandlungen  zur  allgemeinen  vergleicheiiden  Sprachlekre,' 
the  first  Part  of  which  is  specially  devoted  to  a  consideration  of  the  Phy- 
siology of  vocal  sounds. — I.  Physinlor/ie  der  Sfimm-und  Sprachlaute.  II. 
Ucber  die  verschicdcnen  Bezeichniuigsweisen  des  Genus  in  den  Spracken. 


I 


I 


21  R.   F.  WEYMOUTH,   ESQ., 

TO?,  aiv8p6<;,  /uieayjfilSpia,  &c. ;  and  the  numerous  analogous 
instances  furnished  by  other  ancient  or  modern  European 
languages;  Lat.  temp/um,  ¥r.  viendrai,Sic.  Of  similar  words 
a  large  collection  may  be  found  in  Pott.  Of  the  (/  thus 
inserted,  the  French  epingle  is  the  only  example  1  have  met 
with.  Derived  from  the  Lat.  spinula,  it  assumes  the  forms 
esphmle,  epinule,  epinle.  In  the  last  of  these  the  second  syl- 
lal)le  terminates  with  the  well-knoun  French  nasal  akin  to 
the  English  and  German  ng,  though  Aveaker,  and  thus  more 
resembling  the  Sanscrit  mmsivdra.  From  this  sound  to  the  / 
there  is  then  a  transition  which  is  broken  by  the  insertion  of 
the  //.  The  French  ehranlcr,  like  the  English  r'mylet,  the 
Germ.  jUnyling,  &c.,  does  not  take  the  mute. 

II.  Those  in  which  a  vowel  intervenes,  at  least  in  the 
word  as  spoken,  between  the  nasal  liquid  of  the  root  and 
the  sequent  consonant,  the  euphonic  mute  being  still  inserted. 
Of  this  we  see  examples  in  the  Eng.  nwnber,  tumble,  &c., 
where  the  b  belongs  not  to  the  root.  Also  in  cinder,  gender, 
thunder,  gander^,  t-run-dle,  &c. ;  in  which  a  radical  n  is  su])- 
portcd  ))y  its  cognate  but  exotic  d.  And  thus  we  may  explain 
the  ditference  in  the  pronunciation  of  the  ng  in  such  a  paii"  of 
words  as  the  English  younger  and  its  German  equivalent 
jiinger.  In  the  latter  the  ng  represents  one  simple  sound, 
and  in  this  comparative,  as  in  alter,  stib'ker,  and  the  Engl. 
broader,  wiser,  &c.,  we  find  nothing  anomalous;  the  regular 
comparatival  termination  being  appended  immediately  to  the 
root.     But  in  the  comparatives  of  English  adjectives  in  -7iy, 

*  "  With  regard  to  the  d  in  gander,"  writes  Dr.  Latham,  "  it  is  not  easy 
to  say  whether  it  is  inserted  in  one  word  or  omitted  in  the  other  \^gans\" 
(Handbook,  2nd  edition,  p.  214.)  The  analogy  of  the  other  similar  words 
mentioned  in  the  text  gives  a  high  degree  of  probabihty  to  the  former 
supposition ;  and  this  is  confirmed  by  the  great  rarity,  if  not  non-existence, 
of  precisely  analogous  instances  of  an  omitted  d,  and  by  the  long  list  of 
cognate  words  in  various  Indo-European  languages,  in  none  of  which  a  d 
is  found,  except  where  an  r  is  affixed,  as  in  the  A.-S.  gandra  and  the  Engl, 
and  Low  Germ,  gander.  EiehhofF,  Pott,  and  Dr.  Latham  himself,  furnish 
the  following : — Sansc.  Aansff,  hansi;  Pers.  kay;  Greek  xh^'y  Lat.  anser 
(and  gun-lus);  Qtviu.  gans  and  hahn  ;  O.ILG.  A^aws;  M.II.G.,  a  maseu- 
liui"  form  ganazzo ;  Lith.  zusis,  and  several  others. 


ON  THE  LIQUIDS,  IN  RELATION   TO  CERTAIN   MUTES.  25 

we  iiisert  between  the  root  and  the  termination  -er,  the  hard  g, 
Arhich,  as  has  been  above  shown,  is  the  explosive  mute  akin  to 
the  nasal  ng ;  and  the  ijoung-g-er,  long-g-er,  strong-g-er,  which 
result,  are  precisely  analogous  formations  to  number  and  cinder. 

But  as  the  ng  in  ijounger  does  not  stand  for  the  simple 
nasal  liquid  as  in  young,  but  for  that  liquid  +  its  cognate  mute ; 
if  we  search  in  the  direction  thus  indicated,  may  we  not  find 
other  instances  besides  the  French  epingle,  in  Avhich  the  ear, 
if  not  the  eye,  can  discover  an  insertion  of  the  mute  between 
two  consonants,  without  an  intervening  vowel,  just  as  in 
dfM^poTO'i  and  dySp6<i'!f  Wrangler,  pronounced  wrang-g-ler, 
contains  a  hard  g  which  does  not  belong  either  to  the  root 
ivring,  or  to  the  termination ;  so  does  hungry,  if  the  Germans 
have  preserved  the  earlier  pronunciation  of  the  noim  hunger. 
Compare  also  the  French  Hongrois  with  the  German  Ungar. 
Examples  of  this  kind,  however,  are  not  numerous ;  and  with 
most  of  them  there  is  a  prior  form,  in  which,  as  in  younger,  a 
vowel  sound  is  interposed  between  the  nasal  liquid  and  the 
next  consonant. 

And  here  we  may  not  unsuitably  inquire  what  combi- 
nations of  consonants  there  are,  either  ^vith  or  without  an 
intervening  vowel,  which  thus  invite  the  introduction  of  a 
mute.  1.  M/o  takes  the  insertecf^  in  aiJbjBpoTo^,  &c.  2.  M\ 
inserts  /3  in  /jue/x^coKa,  dfx/3\vvco  for  d/xaXvvo},  &c.  3.  In 
the  Latin  templum,  ml  has  taken  p.  4.  In  ^afxy^cav  from  the 
Ilebr.  Shimshon,  and  TefMyjra,  /u,<i  has  a  tt  inserted  according 
to  our  pronunciation,  but  a  b  (English)  according  to  the  pro- 
nunciation of  the  modern  Greeks,  Avho  woidd  read  these  words 
as  Sambzon  and  Tem'bza.  5.  Mt  takes  p  in  the  Latin 
emptus,  sumptus,  &c.  6.  In  the  Greek  Xdp^Sa,  derived  from 
the  Semitic  name  lamed,  we  find  /3  inserted  between  /j,  and  8. 
7.  Chaucer's  Sompnour,  dampnacioun,  &c.,  show  the  p  in- 
serted between  two  nasal  liquids. 

iV  gives  us  less  variety.  1.  Between  v  and  p  there  is  a  S 
in  dv8p6<;.  2.  Our  English  verb  to  trundle  shows  the  d  be- 
tween n  and  /. 

Ng  takes  the  additional  sound  of  the  hard  ^  : — 1.  before  r 
in  Hongrois,  younger,  &c. ;  2.  before  /  in  wrangler. 


26  n.  F.  WEYMOUTH,  ESQ., 

III.  But  again  we  find  in  many  words  in  some  modern 
languages,  that  a  nasal  liquid,  which  is  not  followed  by  any 
syllal)lc,  but  is  itself  the  final  of  the  root,  has  its  cognate  mute 
a])pendcd.  A  familiar  example  is  fimnd  in  the  English  hound 
as  compared  with  the  Latin  can,  the  Greek  kvv,  and  the 
Sanskrit  swan.  Such  also  are  comb  and  lamb,  though  in 
these  in  modern  English  we  do  not  sound  the  final  consonant. 
It  is  indeed  contended,  on  the  authority  of  the  old  Sanskrit 
grammarians,  that  such  forms  as  hound,  kind,  tendo,  are  older 
than  the  allied  forms  without  the  mute,  and  that  the  change 
which  has  occurred  is  one  of  subtraction  rather  than  addition. 
To  discuss  this  point  now  would  be  simply  a  digression  : 
suffice  to  say  therefore  that  there  are  forms  in  which  beyond 
dispute  the  addition  has  taken  place ;  such  as  tyrant,  ancient, 
Normandy,  Grerm.  jemand,  niemand,  &c. 

A  similar  formation  to  that  of  comb  from  the  biliteral  root 
that  may  be  traced  in  the  Germ,  kamin  (primarily  signifying 
a  range  of  hills),  the  French  chne,  the  Lat.  cum-ulus,  and  the 
Greek  k-utttw  with  its  numerous  offspring,  is  the  Greek 
Tvix^a.  At  least  it  seems  probable  that  the  root  of  this 
word  is  TVjjb,  as  found  in  the  Lat.  tumeo,  tumulus,  &c. ;  and 
that  the  verb  tv^w,  from  which  Liddcll  and  Scott  derive  it,  is 
rather  to  be  regarded  as  an  imitative  word  of  separate  origin. 
The  roots  tu/a  and  iv<^,  though  resembling  each  other,  as 
they  express  kindred  notions,  may  yet  be  altogether  inde- 
pendent of  one  another ;  the  latter  Anth  its  continuous  non- 
nasal  consonant  being  well-fitted — lilce  miiltitudes  of  similar 
words  [e.g.  Okw,  T/3e%&),  curro,  A.-S.  yrnan,  Germ,  laufen)  — 
to  convey  that  idea  of  visible  motion,  namely  of  the  rising 
smoke,  which  is  not  inherent  in  the  former. 

Lastly  under  this  head  must  be  mentioned  words  termi- 
nating in  -ng,  as  king  and  song,  when  pronounced  as  in  some 
parts  of  England,  kingy  and  songg.  But  in  young  and  the 
Germ,  jung,  when  we  trace  them  back  to  their  origin,  we  find 
reason  to  believe  that  the  process  by  which  kingg  and  songg 
have  assumed  a  guttural  that  does  not  belong  to  them,  is  in 
this  word,  in  the  later  stages  of  its  growth,  reversed.  Sup- 
posing the  radical  form  to  be  the  Sanskrit  yuvan  or  the  Lat. 


ON  THE  LIQUIDS,  IN  RELATION  TO  CERTAIN  MUTES.  27 

juven,  the  middle  consonant  first  becomes  fully  vocalized  in 
such  a  form  as  the  Lith.  jaunas  and  in  the  Lat.  junior  for 
juvenior ;  a  guttural  is  then  added  in  the  Gothic  juggs  (pro- 
nounced junggs,  the  doubled  g  being  =  yy  in  Greek),  the 
O.  H.  G.jimk  and  the  M.  H.  Gr.junc  (the  Engl,  younker  being 
evidently  derived  from  some  such  form),  and  this  guttural  is 
again  dropped  in  A.-S .  geong  (?) , Engl,  yomig,  and  N.  H.G.jung. 

IV.  A  fourth  class  of  facts  are  supplied  by  some  of  the 
dialects  of  Western  Africa,  in  which  a  great  number  of  words 
may  be  foimd  to  begin  with  a  suppressed  vowel  sound  fol- 
lowed by  a  nasal  liquid  and  a  mute.  In  these  it  seems  most 
probable  that  of  the  two  consonants  only  one  is  radical  and 
the  other  euphonic.  The  combinations  are  those  of  m  with  b 
or  p ;  of  w  with  t,  d,  or  its  compound  J ;  and  of  ng  with  g  or  k ; 
as  exhibited  in  the  Dualla  'mbenga,  dove ;  'mpimha,  nose ; 
''ndaho,  house;  'ngodi,  girdle — or  'nggodi,  as  the  compiler  of 
the  fragmentary  Isubu  grammar  writes  such  words,  the  ng 
being  sounded  as  in  the  English  younger.  The  nasal  liquid  is 
in  this  class  of  words  always  folloAved  by  its  cognate  surd  or 
sonant  explosive  mute,  each  being  distinctly  pronounced 
(continuous  mutes  are  apparently  unknown  to  these  languages 
except  in  imported  words).  ■  v, 

V.  It  is  doubtless  owing  to  the  close  affinity  between  the 
labial  pair  of  these  letters,  that  in  the  etymology  of  the  lan- 
guages just  alluded  to,  the  Dualla  and  the  Isubu,  these  letters 
have  one  function  so  much  in  common.  In  six  out  of  seven 
classes  of  plural  nouns,  the  plural  prefix  begins  "with  an  m  or 
a  b.     And  compare  the  Kafir  plural  prefixes  aba  and  ama. 

But  in  like  manner  numerous  instances  may  be  adduced  of 
the  interchange  of  these  letters,  and  not  of  the  labial  pair 
alone,  but  of  the  palatals  and  gutturals  also. 

1.  M  and  b  or  p  are  apparently  thus  interchanged  in  the 
following  words  :  Germ,  bad,  Engl,  bath,  Sanskr.  mid,  Lat.  ma- 
deo,  Lith.  maudau :  Germ,  burg,  Engl,  borough,  Sanskr.  mur, 
Lat.  murus  :  Germ,  weib,  Engl,  womb,  Germ,  wamme  ;  also  in 
husband  for  house-man ;  and  more  clearly  in  certain  cases 
where  an  r  or  /  follows,  as  ^Xlttw  from  ixeXt,  &c.  (Sec  Eicli- 
liofF,  and  Key  on  the  Alphal)et.) 


28  H.   V.  WEYMOUTH,  ESQ., 

2.  N  is  intcrcliangcd  with  tlic  palatal  mutes  in  the  Sanskr. 
nava?!,  Jj^t.  noroin,  Lith.  ileunjm,  lluss.  dewiat' ;  in  the  CJreek 
roots  fiaO  and  jjuev,  &c.    (Sec  Key.) 

3.  The  consonantal  sound  with  which  our  word  tongue 
closes,  and  which  we  have  in  the  Germ,  zunge,  is  not  found 
in  the  cognate  verbs,  the  Engl,  lick,  Germ,  lecken,  O.  H.  G. 
lekon,  Goth.  laigon,  Greek  Xet^w,  Sanskr.  lih.  And  as  in  the 
Sanskrit  form  of  this  root,  the  nasal  is  substituted  by  the 
softened  guttural  h,  so  in  Gothic  we  fvuAjuhiza  as  equivalent  to 
the  O.  H.  O.jungiro  and  N.  H.  G.jimger.  Compare  also  the 
French  join-d-re  with  the  Greek  root  ^evy,  and  the  Jjat.Jugmn. 

But  perhaps  in  most  or  all  of  these  cases,  if  the  interchange 
is  real,  and  the  words  in  question  are  not  derivatives  of  roots 
of  independent  origin  simulating  affinity,  such  interchange  is 
indirect  and  may  be  referred  to  euphonic  causes.  Thus  the 
root  Jug  being  strengthened,  as  is  the  case  in  several  words 
shortly  to  be  alluded  to,  by  the  insertion  of  the  allied  nasal, 
hccoraes  Jung  (the  verb  being  doubtless  pronounced  ^mw^-^o), 
and  the  newcomer  now  ousts  the  original  guttiiral  mute  to 
form  the  French  Join-t*,  &c.  So  in  the  root  lih,  lick,  Xet%, 
&c.,  the  same  nasal  being  inserted  gives  the  various  forms 
lingua,  Celt,  dingua,  Goth,  tuggo  (pronounced  tang-go), 
O.  H,  G.  zunka,  Swedish  tunga,  N.  H.  G.  zunge,  Low  Germ. 
tunge,  Engl,  tongue ;  the  original  guttural  being  quite  lost  in 
the  last  three  or  four  of  these.  Very  similarly  may  we  trace 
the  growth  of  the  German  forms  menge  and  Pjingsten  from 
primitives  in  which  this  nasal  is  not  found.  They  do,  however, 
contain  another  nasal  for  which  ng  has  been  substituted.  The 
former  of  these  words  is  from  the  O.  H.  G.  managi,  allied  to 
the  Engl,  many,  &c.  Here  the  vowel  of  the  second  syllable 
being  dropped,  euphony  required  an  exchange  of  nasal  liquids, 
and  finally  the  guttm^al  was  lost  from  pronunciation.     So  in 

*  It  may  be  observed  in  passing,  that  this  French  anuswara  may  re- 
present as  a  final  any  one  of  the  nasal  Uquids  :  thus  it  is  substituted  for 
the  true  labial  m  in  chamhre  from  camera,  champ  from  campus,  liiipur  fvom 
impurus  ;  it  stands  for  n  iu  clinnvrc  from  cannabis,  chanter  from  cantare, 
bon  from  bonus;  and  for  ng  in  point  from  punctum,  eteindre  from  extinguo, 
plaindre  from  plango,  and  so  forth. 


ON  THE  LIQUIDS,  IX  RELATION  TO  CERTAIN  MUTES.  29 

Pfingsten  from  the  Greek  TrevrjjKoa-ri],  syncope  produced  some 
sucli  form  as  irev-KoaTq,  necessarily  modified  mto  pen (j-koste ; 
then  the  k  is  dropped,  and  the  Low  Gccriaanjjingsten,  M.  H.  G. 
pfingesten,  and  N.  H.  G.  Pfingsten  result. 

VI.  Familiar  to  every  Greek  scholar  are  the  numerous 
cases  in  which  the  mute  is  the  radical,  and  the  liquid  the 
auxiliary ;  such  as  fxavOavw,  Xavddvo),  Trev^o?,  &c.  And  as  the 
6  here  represents  in  some  sort  its  kinsman  B,  which  we  have 
generally  hitherto  found  combining  with  the  n;  so  instead  of 
the  combination  /i/3  we  have  /u.0  in  pi/j.(f)a  and  pLfxcjidXeo^i, 
dashing,  from  the  root  pi7r.  M/S  occui's  however  in  Xap^avo), 
Odfi^of  (and  the  Latin  plumbum),  and  Ti///7ravov,  pronounced 
by  the  modern  Greeks  teem  banon,  with  tt  =  the  English  b ;  in 
all  of  which  the  /*  does  not  belong  to  the  root.  The  inserted 
ng  we  find  in  Xwy^dvco  fi'om  Xa;)^,  and  Tv^yavw  from  rvy ;  as 
well  as  in  the  Lat.  jungo  and  Goth,  tuggo,  which  have  been 
already  discussed. 

But  can  this  insertion  be  anyway  accounted  for  ?  I  think 
so,  if  we  bear  in  mind  that  in  the  class  of  Greek  verbs  just 
mentioned,  the  short  form  is  used  chiefly  and  almost  exclu- 
sively in  the  2nd  Aorists,  tenses  Avhich  represent  the  action 
of  the  verb  at  once  in  its  completeness ;  the  form  with  the 
liquid  belongs  only  to  the  imperfect  tenses,  which  represent 
the  action  as  prolonged  or  habitual.  It  is  that  the  sound  may 
answer  to  the  sense,  that  to  express  the  idea  in  the  latter 
form,  the  sound  of  the  word  is  prolonged  by  the  strengthening 
of  the  already  continuous  mute  by  another  continuous  con- 
sonant, its  cognate  liquid.  Similarly,  it  is  that  the  mind  may 
dweU  on  the  notion  which  the  word  conveys  to  it,  that  the 
sound  is  thus  strengthened  in  /3ev6o<i,  rvfXTravov,  plumbum, 
&c.  And  may  we  not  thus  accomit  for  the  fact  that  the  par- 
ticipial termination  t  or  d,  the  simple  explosive  mute,  is  so 
extensively  used  in  the  Indo-European  languages  for  the 
perfect  tense,  and  the  form  in  nt  or  nd  for  the  imperfect? 
Let  us  compare  the  two  following  lists. 

1.  Perfect  participles. — Sanskr.  upt-a{s),  Gr.  ySiwr-o?,  Lat. 
lect-us,  Fr.  convert,  Germ,  geliebt,  O.  H.  G.  giladot,  Dutch 
gedrukt,  xS..-^.  gelufod,  Lith.  let-as,  Engl,  loved  and  learnt. 


30  K.    K.   AVKYMOUTII,   ESQ.j 

2.  Imperfect  participles. — Sauskr.   pacliunt    (in    declension), 
Gr.   TVTTTOVT-O'i    (pronouuced    teep  tOndus    by    the    modern 
Greeks  with  t  =  the  English  d),  Lat.  amant-is  and  amand- 
us,  Fr.  allant,  Germ.  Uebend,  Low  Germ,  lewent  (in  such  a 
phrase  as  dat  Lewent  =  Engl,  "infinitive  in  -inff,"  livirif/), 
Goth,  stigands,  Du.  woonende,  A.-S.  tellende,  Lith.  lejand; 
Engl.  teUhicj,  or  in  the  midland  counties  tdlimjg. 
The  prolonged  sound  of  the  termination  in  words  of  the  latter 
class,  as  contrasted  with  the  rapidity  with  which  that  of  the 
others  is  dismissed,  seems  to  render  such  forms  very  appro- 
priate for  their  office  of  expressing  an  action  as  still  continued 
and  incomplete. 

VII.  The  explanation  above  offered  of  the  affinity  of  m 
with  b  will  fully  account  also  for  the  //,  substituted  for  /3  in 
ipefxvo^  and  a€/jbv6<i.  The  roots  being  epe/3  and  ae/S, — and  the 
Hebrew  language  proves  this  in  one  case,  and  the  Sanskrit  in 
the  other, — the  termination  -vo?  is  to  be  appended.  But  the 
v  is  a  nasal  liquid,  that  is,  it  is  sounded  with  the  velum  palati 
loAvered.  This  may  be  lowered  therefore  after  the  ^  is  pro- 
nounced ;  but  it  is  much  easier  to  effect  this  change  in  the 
position  of  the  organs  at  the  opportunity  which  the  preceding 
vowel  affords,  and  to  sound  both  the  consonants  that  intervene 
between  the  e  and  o  with  the  organs  as  much  as  possible  in 
the  same  position,  that  is,  with  the  nasal  cavity  open  for  them 
both ;  the  first  consonant  being  assimilated  to  the  second, 
according  to  the  rule  of  the  Greek  language,  rather  than  the 
second  to  the  first;  and  hence  epe/xvo?,  o-e/ivo?.  A  like 
change  is  effected  by  the  letter  n  in  the  Swedish  hamn  and 
its  derivatives  and  compounds.  Here  the  termination  -n  is 
appended  to  a  root  ending  in  v  or  /,  the  root  being  doubtless 
found  in  the  Danish  hav,  German  haff,  and  SAvedish  haf; 
whence  are  derived  huvn  in  Danish,  hafen  in  German,  and 
haven  in  English.  But  contact  with  n  has  in  the  Swedish 
word  changed  the  labial  mute  into  the  labial  nasal  liquid. 

VIII.  There  are,  however,  some  instances  of  a  mute  inserted 
where  the  first  consonant  is  not  a  nasal  liquid,  but  a  sibilant. 

The  first  is  the  adjective  eV^A.6?, — if  at  least  we  adopt  the 
opinion  of  Jelf,  Donaldson,  and  others,  that  the  Doric  ia\6<i 


ON  THE   LIQUIDS,   IN   RELATION   TO  CERTAIN   MUTES.  31 

is  the  original  form.  Then  the  6  is  thus  derived.  I  assume 
its  common  pronunciation  among  ourselves  to  be  the  true 
one,  being  that  of  our  surd  th,  as  it  is  pronounced  by  the 
modern  Greeks.  It  may  then  be  remarked,  that  the  formation 
of  the  three  sounds  of  s,  th,  and  I,  requires  the  tongue  to  be 
pressed  against  the  teeth  for  the  first,  to  touch  the  anterior 
part  of  the  palate  for  the  second,  and  to  touch  the  palate 
again  further  back  for  the  third ;  so  tliat  in  the  transition 
from  s  to  I,  the  tongue  passes  by,  if  not  actually  through,  the 
very  position  that  is  necessary  to  pronounce  the  th.  Hermann 
however  identifies  this  word,  and  I  think  rightly,  with  the 
German  edel;  and  if  this  he  allowed,  so  that  edX  is  the  root, 
like  the  Anglo-Saxon  se^el  [aethel),  and  the  Doric  form  stands 
for  e'^Xo?  as  aio^:  for  ^eo?,  the  problem  to  solve  will  be  to 
account  for  the  a  prefixed  to  the  6  of  the  root.  This  is  not 
easy ;  though  we  may  at  least  assert  that  the  strengthening 
of  the  6  by  the  cognate  semivowel  o-  is  analogous  to  that  of 
the  mute  by  an  inserted  nasal  liquid  in  Tu^iravcov,  rv'yx^dvw, 
&c.  Whether  in  ladfjioq,  IfMaadXr],  fxaaOaXk,  aad/u,a,  {tvitt)- 
ofjueada,  &c.,  the  a  or  the  6  is  the  radical,  is  perhaps  not 
readily  determined. 

A  second  case  is  that  of  Mearpaifz,  as  the  name  appears  in 
Manetho's  fragments  apud  Syncellum,  though  the  LXX.  Avrite 
the  name  Meapatfj,  or  -Iv  without  the  t.  This  t  may  have 
been  derived  directly  from  the  Hebrew  tsade  of  the  original 
word,  so  that  Mearpatfx,  is  but  varied  by  metathesis  for 
Mero-pat/j,,  which  to  Greek  organs  of  speech  would  be  an 
impossible  form.  If  on  the  other  hand,  as  seems  more  pro- 
bable, the  T  is  simply  euphonic,  its  introduction  may  be 
explained  just  as  that  of  the  6  in  ia-6\6<i :  it  serves  in  pre- 
cisely the  same  way  as  a  stepping-stone  from  the  sibilant  to 
the  succeeding  consonant.  A  parallel  case  is  the  "Ea8pa<i  of 
the  LXX.  for  the  Hebrew  Ezra,  where  however  the  z  is  zayin, 
not  tsade. 

From  this  point  of  view  let  us  examine  the  Latin  castrum. 
The  root  I  believe  to  be  the  biliteral  cas*,  found  also  in  cusa 

*  Dawsoii  and  Rushton,  in  their  Termiuational  Dictionary,  divide  the 
word  ca-stra.     I  venture  to  think  this  a  mistake.     They  err  in  the  other 


32  HENSLEIGH  WEDGWOOD,    ESQ., 

and  tlic  Croatie  ki/zha,  and  easy  to  be  identified  by  the  aid  of 
Grimm's  Law  witli  the  Germ,  haus,  A.-S.  hits,  Engl,  house, 
&c.  Is  then  -hnim  the  termination  ?  I  think  not :  I  believe 
-trum,  wherever  its  force  can  be  distinctly  seen,  marks  the 
instrument,  as  is  laid  doA\Ti  by  Professor  Key  in  his  Latin 
Grammar.  I  woidd  therefore  hazard  the  conjecture,  that 
cas-lum  or  cas-uhmi  was  the  original  form,  signifying  pri- 
marily a  little  house,  i.  e.  a  tent  or  hut,  that  element  in  short 
of  Avhich  a  camp  will  be  composed  ;  and  then  coming,  through 
the  associated  military  ideas,  to  signify  a  fortified  dwelling, 
and  hence  a  fort.  Suppose  this  so.  We  know  that  no  word 
either  in  Greek  or  Latin  begins  with  si,  and  that  this  was 
scarcely  a  tolerable  combination  to  the  Greek  or  Latin  mouth. 
A  t  was  therefore  inserted,  on  the  principles  above  explained, 
stl  being  (in  both  these  languages)  a  possible  group  of  con- 
sonants,— yet  not  a  favourite  combination,  and  the  /  was 
therefore  changed  into  r  to  facilitate  pronunciation,  as  in  the 
very  similar  old  French  forms  apostre  from  apostolus,  epislre 
from  epistola,  and  numerous  other  examples.  (See  Key  on  the 
Alphabet,  p.  73.) 


III.— MISCELLANEOUS  ENGLISH  ETYMOLOGIES. 

By  Hensleigh  Wedgwood,  Esq. 

[Read  Jpril  the  11 /A.] 

Gull,  a  dupe ;  to  gull,  to  deceive,  to  make  a  dupe  of.  A 
metaphor  taken  from  the  utter  helplessness  of  a  yovuig  bird, 
still  pro%'incially  called  a  gull.  Wilbraham  (Cheshire  Glos- 
sary) says  that  all  nestling  birds  in  quite  an  unfledged  state 
are  called  '  naked  gulls,'  doubtless  from  the  yellow  tint  of  the 
naked  skin  about  the  beak  and  other  parts ;  Icel.  (/ulr,  Dan. 

directioa  in  the  case  of  asfrum,  of  which  they  make  ast  the  root  and  rimi 
the  termination ;  though  the  Germ,  sfern,  the  Enghsh  star,  the  Greek 
darrip,  the  Sanskrit  tard,  &c.  all  prove  that  the  r  in  this  case  belongs  to  the 
root. 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  ENGLISH  ETYMOLOGIES.  33 

guul,  yellow.  In  Surrey  the  term  is  commonly  applied  to  a 
gosling.  In  the  same  way  the  Fr.  bejaune,  the  proper  meaning 
of  which  is  a  young  bird  (yellow-beak)^  is  used  in  the  sense 
of  a  novice  or  simpleton ;  bejaunage,  bejaunise,  simplicity, 
inexperience,  doltishness  (Cotgr.).  Another  variation  of  the 
metaphor  designates  the  dupe  as  a  pigeon,  originally  signi- 
fying a  young  bird,  from  Lat.  pipio,  '  ?i  young  pipping  or 
chirping  bird,  a  squab^  (Andrews).  Hence  It. pippio?ie,  pass- 
ing into  piccione  (as  sappia  and  saccia  ft-om  sapere,  abbia  and 
aggia  from  habere),  applied  to  the  young  pigeon  in  the  same 
way  as  fowl  to  cocks  and  hens,  or  bird  in  sportsmen^s  language 
to  the  partridge.  '  Pippione,  a  pigeon,  a  siUy  guU ;  pijjpionare, 
to  pigeon,  to  gull  one,  to  make  one  swallow  a  gudgeon.' 
(Florio.)  Again,  the  Fr.  niais,  a  nestling,  is  taken  as  the 
type  of  simplicity  or  foUy.  'Niais,  a  nestling;  hence  a 
youngling,  novice,  ninny,  a  simple,  witless  and  inexperienced 
guU.'  (Cotgr.) 

Bezonian.  The  Fr.  bejaune,  mentioned  in  the  last  article,  is 
I  doubt  not  the  origin  of  the  '  Bezonian '  of  our  dramatists, 
commoidy  supposed  to  be  derived  from  It.  bisogno,  want, 
bisognoso,  necessitous,  making  the  term  equivalent  to  'poor 
de\dl.-'  But  this  is  not  the  sense  of  the  Sp.  bisoiio,  from  whence 
doubtless  the  expression  immediately  comes,  that  term  being 
applied  to  a  raw  recruit,  novice,  tyro,  simpleton,  'incongru, 
bejaune,  sot,  niais.'  (Nunez.)  The  term  bisogni  was  also  ap- 
pUed  in  Italian  to  new-levied  soldiers,  and  in  the  long  ItaHan 
wars  of  the  middle  ages,  when  French,  Spanish  and  Italians 
were  mixed  up  together,  any  piece  of  military  slang  would 
pass  with  the  utmost  facility  from  one  language  to  the  other. 
The  sound  of  the  French  j,  being  foreign  to  the  two  other 
languages,  would  naturally  be  represented  by  a  z,  as  in  the 
Picdmontese  biso  from  bijou,  a  jewel.  The  Italian,  unskilled 
in  French,  says  zoli  for  joli,  zour  ior  jour. 

Goblin.  The  Goblin,  under  one  name  or  another,  was  a 
superstition  very  widely  spread  over  Europe  in  less  instructed 
times.  It  was  generally  conceived  as  a  supernatural  being  of 
small  size,  but  of  great  strength,  dwelling  under  ground,  in 
mounds  or  desert  places,  not  generally  ill-disposed  towards 

D 


34  HEXSLEIGH  WEDGWOOD,   ESQ., 

man,  and  in  some  cases  domesticating  himself  with  him  and 
rendering  him  service.  Hence  the  freqnent  addition  of  a 
famihar  appellation,  as  in  Iloh-gohlin,  Robin  Goodfellow,  Ilob 
Thrush  (Cotgr.  in  v.  Lutin;  Hob^drudge?).  It  was  known 
in  Germany  by  the  name  of  Kobold,  and  was  supposed  par- 
ticularly to  frccpient  mines,  where  it  is  capriciously  favourable 
or  mischievous.  The  miners,  says  Adelung,  who  have  always 
much  to  do  Avith  the  Kobold,  call  him  Ber(j-geist,  Berg- 
mdnnchen  (which  may  be  translated '  mine-ghost,  mine-dwarF), 
Matthew  Kobalein.  From  the  prevalence  of  the  superstition 
among  this  peculiar  class  has  arisen  the  name  of  the  mineral 
cobalt,  the  value  of  which  has  only  been  discovered  in  modern 
times,  being  formerly  only  known  as  an  incumbrance  among 
valuable  ores  attributed  to  the  ill-otfices  of  the  Kobold, 
whence  the  name  is  said  to  have  arisen. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  name  Kobold  is  identical 
with  the  Fr.  gobelin,  the  habits  of  which  are  mentioned  by 
Orderieus  Vitalis,  as  qvioted  by  Adelung :  "  Dsemon  enim 
quem  de  Dianse  fano  expulit  adhue  in  eadem  urbe  degit  et  in 
variis  frequenter  formis  apparens  neminem  Isedit.  Hunc 
vulgus  gobelinum  appellat."  He  is  known  in  Breton  by  the 
name  of  gobilin,  and  is  there  supposed  to  engage  in  household 
drudgery,  to  cuny  the  horses  of  a  night,  for  instance,  like 
Milton's  Lubber-fiend. 

It  is  among  the  Celts  probably  that  the  origin  as  well  of 
the  name  as  of  the  superstition  itself  is  to  be  looked  for.  The 
name  in  Welsh  is  coblyn,  signifying  in  the  first  instance  a 
knocker,  from  cobio,  to  knock,  to  thump ;  cobiwr,  a  knocker,  a 
pecker;  coblyn  y  coed,  a  w^oodpecker.  The  origin  of  the 
appellation  seems  to  be  indicated  in  a  passage  in  which  there 
is  no  reference  to  the  name  goblin,  and  the  writer  of  which 
had  probably  never  thought  of  any  connexion  between  that 
word  and  the  superstition  he  is  describing.  "People  will 
laugh  at  us  Cardiganshire  miners,"  says  a  correspondent, 
quoted  in  '  Bridge's  Guide  to  Llandudno,'  "  who  maintain  the 
existence  of  knockers  in  mines,  a  kind  of  goodnatiu'cd  im- 
palpable people,  not  to  be  seen,  but  heard,  and  who  seem  to  us 
to  work  in  the  mines.     The  miners  have  a  notion  that  these 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  ENGLISH   ETYMOLOGIES.  35 

knockers,  or  little  people,  as  we  call  them"  (compare  G.  herg- 
mdnnchen)  "  are  of  their  own  tribe  and  profession,  and  are  a 
harmless  people  who  mean  well." 

It  A\ill  be  observed  that  the  Koliold  in  Germany  is  pecu- 
liarly a  miner's  superstition,  Avhile  Cardiganshire  has  been  a 
mining  district  from  the  earliest  period. 

Gazette.  Commonly  derived  from  gazzetta,  the  name  of  a 
small  Venetian  coin  supposed  to  be  the  price  of  the  original 
newspaper.     But  the  value  of  the  gazzetta  was  so  small  {^  not 
worth  a  farthing  of  ours,'  Florio),  that  it  never  could  have  been 
the  price  either  of  a  written  or  printed  sheet.     Schmeller  was 
nearer  the  mark  when  he  derived  the  word  from  gazzetta,  the 
diminutive  of  gazza,  a  magpie,  supposing  that  the  image  of 
that  bird  may  have  been  impressed  upon  the  earlier  news- 
papers as  the  emblem  of  talkativeness.     But  Avithout  evidence 
of  the  supposed  practice,  a  guess  of  this  kind  is  worthless. 
Moreover,  in  the  present  instance  the  supposition  is  wholly 
unnecessary.     The  magpie  is  called  gazza  in  Italian,  as  chat- 
ter-pie in  English,  from  a  widely-spread  root  representing  a 
chattering  noise,  which  is  exemplified    in  E.  chat,   chatter; 
Hung,  csatora  [cs  =  English  ch),  noise,  racket,  csatordzni,  to 
make  a  noise,  chatter,   talk  much,  csacsogni,  to  chatter  or 
prattle,  csacsogdny ,  a  chatter-box,  magpie,  jackdaw;  Pol.  gadac, 
to    talk,  gadu-gadu,    chit-chat,   tittle-tattle;     Fr.  gazouiller, 
to  twitter,  to  murmur ;  It.  gazzerare,  gazzolare,  gazzogliare, 
gazzettare,   to  chatter  as   a   pie  or  jay,   to  prate    (Florio). 
Hence  gazzetta,  gazzette,   'oil  manner  of  idle  chattings  or 
vain  prattlings,  but  now  generally  used  for  running  reports, 
daily    news,    intelligences    and    advertisements    as    are    daily 
invented  and  \n'itten  mito  foreign  nations,  ^iz.  from  Venice, 
Rome,  and  Amsterdam.'  (Florio.) 

The  primitive  meaning  of  the  word  then  is  simply  chit-chat, 
the  appropriateness  of  which  may  be  illustrated  from  a  late 
Number  of  the  Quarterly  Review  on  Advertisements  :  "At  the 
same  time,  the  public  journals,  it  is  clear,  had  not  performed 
that  part  of  their  office  which  was  really  more  acceptable  to 
the  country  reader  than  any  other — the  retailing  of  the  political 
and  social  chit-chat  of  the  day."  (No.  193.  p.  204.) 

1)2 


36  HENSLEIGH  WEDGWOOD,  ESQ., 

Bowels.  Lat.  botuhis,  a  sausage ;  It.  budelle ;  Venet.  buSle; 
O.  Fr.  boel ',  Bret,  buuzellen,  pliu'.  bouzellon  or  boveUen,  bou- 
ellou,  bowels.  Perhaps  named  on  aecount  of  the  fiop^opiry/jLo<i 
or  rumbling  sound  wliieh  takes  place  in  them,  from  Bret. 
bouda,  to  hum,  to  murmur,  the  equivalent  of  E.  buzz.  The 
W.  poten,  the  belly,  a  pudding,  is  probably  the  same  word, 
and  may  be  illustrated  by  the  Finn  jjotina,  gemnrrael,  a  rum- 
bling or  murmuring,  from  potista,  rauce  ebullio  ut  puis 
fervida,  mussito,  dumpf  toncn,  munneln.  In  like  manner,  in 
Icelandic  the  ])elly  is  termed  bumbr,  from  bum/a,  to  resound ; 
Gr.  ^ofM^vXia^Q),  to  rumble,  ventris  miirnnu^  edo ;  fiofi^vXr}, 
a  narrow-mouthed  guggling  vessel.  Probably //?//5,  the  proper 
English  designation  of  the  bowels,  is  derived  from  another 
imitation  of  the  internal  rumbling  exhibited  in  Icel.  gutl,  by 
which  is  represented  the  agitation  of  liquids  in  a  ^•essel ;  '  at 
gutla,  agitare  liquida  ut  bilbiant,'  to  guggle. 
His  guttes  begonne  to  gothelen 
Like  two  gredy  sowes. — P.P. 
Plat.  D.  guddern  is  applied  to  the  rattling  sound  of  things 
falling  in  abundance,  as  apples  from  a  tree,  water  pouring  from 
a  roof.  The  W.  and  Gael,  bru,  the  belly,  seem  in  like 
manner  connected  with  It.  bruire,  to  rumble;  il  ventre,  mi 
bruisce,  my  guts  rumble  (Altieri).  So  also  Pol.  brzuch,  the 
belly,  and  brzeczec,  to  hum,  to  buzz;  Russ.  briucho,  belly, 
and  briuzcJiat,  to  grumble. 

To  Buck.  A  mode  of  preparation  for  washing  formerly  in 
universal  use,  by  soaking  the  linen  in  a  solution  of  wood 
ashes.  The  word  was  very  generally  spread.  In  G.  it  is 
beuchen,  buchen,  bilchen,  bilken;  Sw.  byka;  Dan.  byge;  Fr. 
buquer,  buer;  It.  bucatare.  The  derivation  has  been  much 
discussed.  The  more  plausible  suggestions  are — 1.  Dan.  b'og- 
aske,  the  ashes  of  beech  wood,  chiefly  employed  in  making 
potash ;  but  the  practice  of  bucking  would  have  arisen  long 
before  any  particular  kind  of  wood  was  employed  in  procuring 
a  supply  of  ashes.  2.  It.  bucata,  buck-ashes,  supposed  to  be 
derived  from  buca,  a  hole,  because  the  ashes  are  strained 
through  a  pierced  dish,  whence  the  ashes  for  bucking,  or  the 
act  of  bucking  itself,  or  the  linen  operated  on,   are  called 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  ENGLISH  ETYMOLOGIES.  37 

colada  in  Sjjaiiish,  from  colar,  to  strain.  But  the  analogy 
fails,  because  bucare  does  not  appear  ever  to  have  been  used 
in  the  sense  of  straining  or  filtering. 

The  true  derivation  is  the  Gael,  bog,  moist,  soft,  and  as  a 
verb,  to  steep,  to  soak,  to  soften;  Bret,  bouk,  soft,  tender, 
whence  boukaat,  to  soften,  doubtless  originally  to  soak.  In 
the  same  way  It.  molle  signifies  both  moist  and  soft,  and  the 
Lat.  mollire,  to  soften,  is  identical  with  Fr.  mouiUer,  to  wet. 

The  frequent  interchange  of  b  and  m  (as  in  W.  baban, 
maban,  a  baby)  leads  us  to  identify  the  Celtic  root  with  the 
Slavonic  mok,  wet,  appearing  in  Eng.  muck,  meek,  and  Lat. 
macero,  as  mentioned  in  a  former  paper.  Hence  Buss,  mokro, 
wet,  moknut,  to  become  wet,  mochit,  to  wet,  to  soak ;  Bohem. 
mok,  a  steep  for  flax;  Pol.  moczijc  [mochits),  to  soak  foul 
linen  before  washing.  In  Lat.  imbuere,  to  soak,  the  root  has 
lost  the  final  guttural,  as  in  Fr.  buee  for  buquee. 

Host,  an  army.  This  is  one  of  the  words,  with  respect  to 
which  little  is  gained  by  simply  mentioning  the  origin  with- 
out sufficient  illustration  to  explain  the  mode  in  which  it  came 
to  acquii'e  the  actual  signification. 

In  the  troubled  times  follomng  the  breaking  up  of  the 
Roman  empire,  the  first  duty  of  the  subject  was  to  follow  his 
lord  into  the  field  when  called  on  by  proclamation  to  march 
against  the  enemy.  The  demand  for  military  service  was 
expressed  by  the  term  'bannire  in  hostem,'  to  order  out 
against  the  enemy,  as  in  an  edict  of  Charlemagne  quoted  by 
Muratori,  Diss.  26 :  '  Quicunque  liber  homo  in  hostem  ban- 
nitus  fuerit  et  venire  contempserit,  plenum  heribannum  compo- 
nat,^  i.  e.  as  it  is  explained,  '  60  solidos  solvat.'  The  term  hostis 
then,  which  primarily  indicated  the  enemy  against  whom  the 
expedition  was  to  be  made,  was  compendiously  used  for  the 
military  service  itself,  and  is  frequently  taken  as  synonymous 
with  'hostilis  expeditio,^  or  'exercitalis  expeditio,'  and  is  then 
used  as  a  feminine  noun.  A  supplication  is  addressed  to  Charle- 
magne, '  ne  episcopi  deinceps  sicut  hactenus  vexentur  hostibus 
[i.e.  with  demands  of  military  service)  sed  quando  nos  in  hostem 
pergimus'  (which  may  be  translated  either,  when  we  march 
against  the  enemy,  or,  when  we  proceed  on  military  duty  or 


38  UENSLEIGH  WEDGWOOD,  ESQ., 

join  the  ranks),  Mpsi  propriis  resideant  in  parochiis.'  The 
same  immunity  is  expressed  in  a  charter  of  a.d.  965  :  '  Nee 
ab  hominibus  ipsius  ccclesijc,  hostiUs  expeditio  requiratiir.' 
'  Hostem  faeere^  was  to  perform  mibtary  service.  In  a  law 
of  Lothairc  a  certain  fine  is  imposed  on  those  who,  having  the 
means,  neglect  '  hostem  bene  facere,'  while  those  are  excused 
'  qui  propter  nimiam  paupertatem  neque  per  se  hostem  facere, 
neque  adjutorium  prsestare  possunt ; '  and  the  same  sense  is 
expressed  in  contemporary  documents,  '  qui  in  exercitalem  ire 
possunt  expeditionem.^  In  like  manner  in  Italian,  '^Boglio 
fare  la  hoste  sopra  Palestrina,^  Fragm.  Hist.  Rom.  in  Muratori. 
'  Bandire  hoste,'  to  proclaim  war  (Florio).  The  term  woidd 
easily  pass  from  signifying  military  service  to  the  body  of 
men  engaged  in  such  service,  or  to  signify  an  army,  and 
thence  any  numerous  assemblage. 

Tournament.  Commonly  explained  from  the  combatants 
having  to  turn  back  their  horses  after  each  tilt  to  make  a 
fresh  charge,  '  quia  scilicet  equos  celeriter  in  orbem  circum- 
versant'  (Skinner).  But  probably  the  signification  has  been 
attained  by  a  somewhat  different  track.  The  peculiarity  of  a 
tournament  was  not  so  much  the  Avheeling  of  the  horses, 
which  no  doubt  is  one  signification  of  Fr.  tournoyer,  but  the 
fighting  Avithin  a  railed-off"  field,  or  lists,  a  '  champ  clos,'  as  it' 
was  called  in  Fr.  Now  another  meaning  of  Fr.  tournoyer,  as 
of  It.  tornear,  is  to  surround  or  fence  round ;  torneamento,  a 
fence,  hedge,  enclosure ;  and  hence  probably  it  was  that  the 
term  torneo  or  torneamento  was  applied  to  a  combat  within 
lists.  An  old  Italian  chronicler  in  Muratori  (vol.  iii.),  speak- 
ing of  the  Black  Prince  at  the  battle  of  Crecy,  says,  '  Fece 
attorniare  soa  huoste  con  pali  di  fierro  moito  spessi  ficcati  in 
terra.  Quesso  attorniamento  fu  fatto  alia  rotonna  a  modo  di 
fierro  da  eavallo.' 

Trade.  This  is  one  of  those  eases,  several  of  which  have 
been  previously  pointed  out,  where  a  modern  word  has  been 
formed  from  the  coalescence  of  two  others  originally  distinct, 
but  resembling  each  other  in  sound,  and  of  similar  meaning  in 
certain  applications. 

From  Lat.  tractare,  to  handle,  transact,  discuss,  treat,  was 


ON  MISCELLANEOUS  ENGLISH  ETYMOLOGIES.  39 

formed  It.  trattare,  to  treat;  Fr.  traiter,  to  treat,  handle, 
deal  in  or  meddle  with,  debate,  contract  with  (Cotgr.) ;  Sp. 
tratar,  to  handle,  treat  on  a  subject,  to  discuss,  to  manage,  to 
traffic,  to  trade  (Newman  and  Baretti).  Hence  trato,  treat- 
ment, intercourse,  trade,  traffic,  commerce ;  Fr.  traite,  a 
draught,  course,  trace,  proceeding,  also  a  transportation,  out- 
ward vent  or  shippmg  over  (Cotgr.) .  '  La  traite  des  noirs,'  the 
slave  trade.  At  the  same  time,  from  a  totally  different  action, 
expressed  by  A.-S.  tredan,  to  tread,  was  formed  A.-S.  trod^  a 
path,  track,  course;  in  O.  E,  trade,  trade,  troad. 

Wyth  wynd  at  wylle  the  trad  held  thai, 

And  in  England  com  rycht  swyth. — WjTitoun. 

They  say  they  con  to  heaven  the  liighway, 
But  by  my  soul  I  dare  undersay, 
Thev  never  set  foot  in  that  same  troad. 
But  balk  the  right  way  and  strayen  abroad. 

Spenser,  Shep.  Cal. 

So  '  trade  wind,'  a  wind  preser\Tiig  a  certain  course. 

The  word  was  then  metaphorically  used  in  the  sense  of 
course  or  habit  of  action  : — 

Tho  would  I  seek  for  queen-apples  unripe 
^^  To  give  my  Rosalind,  and  in  summer  shade 

Dight  gaudy  girlonds  was  my  common  trade 
To  crown  her  golden  locks. — Shep.  Cal. 

It  seems  then  to  have  been  applied  to  any  special  course  or 
mode  of  occupation  by  which  a  man  earned  his  living,  and 
thus  came  to  signiiy  handicraft  or  mercantile  business,  as 
distinguished  from  agricultm'al  labour,  the  common  lot  of  the 
mass  in  less  advanced  times.  It  now  became  confounded 
with  Sp.  trato  and  Fr.  traite,  and  attracted  to  itself  the  signi- 
fication of  commerce  or  traffic  properly  belonging  to  the 
Roman  derivation. 


40 


ON  A  ZAZA  VOCABULARY^   I$Y   R.  G.  LATHAM,  ESQ. 


IV.— ON  A  ZAZA  VOCABrLAEY.     By  Dr.  H.  Sandwith. 

Communicated  by  Dr.  R.  Q.  Latham. 

[Read  May  the  23rd.] 

The  follo^Yillg  vocabulary  is  one  taken  by  Dr.  H.  Sandwith 

from  a  Kurd  of  the  Zaza  tribe,  one  of  the  rudest  of  the  wliole 

Kurd   family,  and  one  for  which  we  have  no   philological 

specimens. 


ENGLISH.  ZAZA. 

head    shrh-min. 

eyes tchim-e»«'«. 

eyebrows. ,  .  .  buruc-;«m. 

nose zinje-?«m. 

moustache   .  .  simile-/wm. 

beard ardishe-mm. 

tongue zoane-mw. 

teeth    dildone-miw. 

ears gushe-wi«. 

fingers ingishte-/«ew. 

arm pazie-mm. 

legs hlnge-»^^?^. 

father pie-mz«. 

mother xaai-min. 

sister wai-?wm. 

brother     ....  brai-/«m. 

the  back  ....  pashtiai-mm. 

hair pore-^>^^>^. 

cold serdo. 

hot auroghermo. 

sun rojshwesho. 

moon    hashme. 

star sterrai. 

mountain.  .  . .  khoo. 

sea abo. 

valley derei. 

eggs boiki. 

a  fowl kergbi. 

loelcome  ....  tebexairome. 

come    beiri. 

stay rosbc. 


ENGLISH.  ZAZA. 

bread noan. 

water awe. 

child    katcbimo. 

virgin keinima. 

orphan lajckima. 

morning  ....  sbaurow. 

tree. .......  dori. 

iron asin. 

hare     aurish. 

greyhound  . .  taji. 

pig kbooz. 

earth   ert. 

fire adir. 

stone    see. 

silver sem. 

strength  ....  kote. 

sword sbimsbir. 

a  fox    krevesb. 

stag kive. 

partridge.  .  . .  zaraj. 

milk shut. 

horse    istor. 

mare    mabine. 

grapes esbkijsbi. 

a  house    ....  ke. 

green kesk. 

crimson    ....  soor. 

black   siab. 

white   supeo. 

sleep    rausume. 

go    shoori. 


ON  A  ZAZA  VOCABULARY,  BY  R.  G.  LATHAM,  ESQ.      41 

The  meaning  of  the  termination  -min  has  been  explained 
by  Pott  and  Rodiger  in  their  Kurdische  Studien.  It  is  the 
possessive  pronoun  of  the  first  person  =  m2/  =  ?weM5  =  e//09,&c.; 
so  that  sere-mm  =  caput-meMm  (or  mei),  and  pie-w^^i  =  pater- 
meus  (or  mei). 

So  little  was  the  Zaza  who  supplied  Dr.  Sandwith  with  the 
list  under  notice  able  to  conceive  a  hand  or  father,  except  so 
far  as  they  were  related  to  himself,  or  something  else,  and  so 
essentially  concrete  rather  than  abstract  were  his  notions,  that 
he  combined  the  pronoun  with  the  substantive  whenever  he  had 
a  part  of  the  human  body  or  a  degree  of  consanguinity  to  name. 
It  is  difficult  to  say  how  far  this  amalgamation  is  natural  to 
the  uncultivated  understanding,  i.  e.  it  is  difficult  to  say  so  on 
a  priori  grounds.  That  the  condition  of  a  person  applied  to 
for  the  piu'pose  of  making  a  glossary  out  of  his  communi- 
cations is  different  from  that  under  which  we  mamtain  our 
ordinary  conversation,  is  evident.  Ordinary  conversation 
gives  us  a  certain  number  of  words,  and  a  context  as  well.  A 
glossary  gives  us  words  only,  and  disappoints  the  speaker  who 
is  familiar  with  contexts. 

If  this  be  true,  imperfect  contexts,  like  the  combinations 
pie-min,  &c.  should  be  no  uncommon  occurrences.  Nor  are 
they  so.  They  are  pre-eminently  common  in  the  American 
languages.  Thus  in  Mr.  Wallace's  vocabularies  from  River 
Uapes  the  list  runs  thus  : — 


ENGLISH. 

UAINAMBEU. 

JUKI. 

barrI:, 

head  (niy)  . .  . . 

e>'«-bida  .... 

#cAo-kereu. .  . 

?io-dusia. 

mouth  {my)    . . 

er«-numa     .  . 

tcho-\&. 

no-nunia. 

&c. 

&c. 

&c. 

&c. 

similar  illustrations  being  found  in  almost  every  American 
glossary. 

In  his  Appendix  to  Macgillivray's  Voyage  of  the  Rattle- 
snake, the  present  writer  pointed  out  instances  of  this  amal- 
gamation in  the  languages  of  the  Louisiade.  He  now  adds, 
that  he  has  also  foimd  it  in  some  of  the  samples  of  the 
ordinary  Gipsy  language  of  England,  as  he  has  taken  it  from 
the  mouth  of  English  gipsies. 


42  ON  THE  DERIVATION  AND  MEANING  OF  7]7no<i, 

He  considers  it  to  be  a  personal  rather  than  a  philological 
characteristic,  certain  indi^dduals  having  a  minbnum  amomit 
of  abstracting  power,  and  snch  individuals  being  inordinately 
common  amongst  the  American  Indians. 


v.— ON  THE  DEEIVATION  AND  MEANING  OF  r^Trto?. 
By  Theodore  Aufeecht,  Esq.* 

[Read  May  the  9th.'\ 

If  we  inquire  for  the  older  etymologies  which  have  been 
given  of  TjirLot,  we  gather  from  Eustathius,  that  some  gram- 
marians derived  it  from  ijSa) :  against  these  the  learned  bishop 
urges  the  objection,  that  they  disregarded  the  mutes  in  KaTrj- 
TTtoavTo  and  in  eTrt  t  rjiria  cfxxpfiaKa  irdaae.  Fol.  566,  40 
(edit,  rom.)  :  kol  o-rjfielcoaatf  to?  yjnXovrai  to  rjiriov.  ov  'yap 
Xeyet  KaOrjTnowvro,  dWa  1^^X609  Kun^TriocovTO.  SfjXov  S'  avTO 
Kol  ev  T0t9  e^?7<?  e/c  rod  eVt  t'  rfina  (pdpfiaKa  irdaaetv  roov  he 
lye  fied'  '0/u,rjp6v  Ttve?  iSdavvov  avro,  ck  tov  ijBco  7rapdyovr€<;. 
Another  explanation,  generally  adopted  by  modern  lexico- 
graphers, is  furnished  by  the  Etymologicum  Magnum  :  r)7no<i' 
ovTco<;  irpoTepov  eKoXelro  6  ^ AaKXijirto^i'  rj  drrb  rmv  Tpoircov,  rj 
anro  tt)?  t^X^^^>  '^^^  ^^^  '^'^^  X^^P'^^  i^7n6Tt]To<;'  g5  Kal  yvvaiKa 
Trapah'ihaxTLv  YiirLovrfv,  ef  779  avrS  yeveadai  'Idaova,  Ylavd- 
K€iav  AeKTLOov  ev  VTrofivrjfiaTi  AvK6(f)povo<;.  rjirco'^  arj/naivet 
KvpLiO'i  TOV  Xoyiafjiov.  Ilapa  to  eiroi  to  Xejco,  eino'i  koL  i^Trwi, 
6  ev  \6y(p  irdvTa  ttolcov,  koI  fir]  irddei.  e'/c  /jLeTaX/jyjreco'i  8e  Kal 
6  Bid  \6yov  7rpoa7)vr]<i  Kal  TTpdo<i'  Kal  rjTncoTaTO^,  6  ev  \6yoc<i 
TTpaoTaTO'i  Kal  i]crv')(o<;.  Supposing  this  derivation  to  be  true, 
it  would  be  strange,  that  while  elireiv  and  eVo?  show  every- 
where an  initial  digamma  in  Homer,  no  trace  of  it  should  be 
preserved  in  ijirco';.  On  the  contrary,  the  absence  of  it  is 
e^ddent  in  verses  like  A.  830 : — 

Vi'^'  vSari  \tap<p,  eirl  h  TjTrca  (fedp/uiaKa  irdaae . — 0.  40 : 
7rp6(f)povt.  /xvOeo/xai'    eOeXo)  Se  tol  ijirco^  eivai. 

*  This  paper  is  sent  simultaneous!},  in  German,  to  Kuhn's  Zeitsclnift. 


BY  THEODORE  AUEBECHT,  ESQ,  43 

If  the  Greeks  had  ever  felt  that  any  connexion  existed 
between  r/7rto9  and  elirelv,  we  should  have  expected  that 
the  digamma  would  have  alike  remained  in  both  words. 
Nor  can  I  believe,  that  in  such  a  case,  Homer  would  have 
formed  the  adjective  rjTnoScopo^,  or  even  later  poets  the  epithet 
r)'in6')(eLp, — the  literal  rendering  of  which  would  be,  "with 
whose  hands  one  can  speak. ^'  Benfey's  derivation  (Wurzel- 
lexicon,  ii.  356)  from  the  Sanskrit  vap  (to  cut,  to  shave),  may 
be  conformable  with  the  ideas  of  India,  where  lovers  scratch 
and  bite  each  other,  but  it  has  not  been  handed  down  to  us 
that  the  Greeks  manifested  their  aflection  in  a  similar  manner. 
Ebel,  in  Kuhn's  Zeitschrift,  iv.  447,  not  less  arbitrarily  com- 
pares rjTTLO'i  with  the  Latin  pius.  This  word  is  pronounced 
piho  in  Umbrian  and  Volscan,  and  still  more  fully,  piihio,  in 
the  Oscan,  which  latter  is  very  far  from  777740?^. 

Homer  employs  7]7no<i  as  an  attribute  of  persons,  with  the 
meaning  of  kind,  affable,  comjjiying ;  and  of  things,  in  the 
sense  of  soothing,  congenial,  useful.  It  occurs  in  the  following 
passages,  0,  40.  X.  184 : — 

Odpaec,  TpcToyeveia,  (fyiXov  T€K0<;'    ov  vv  tl  Ov/xm 
7rp6(j)povt  /Jivdiofxai'    edeXw  he  tol  ?;7rto<f  elvai. 

"I  will  comply  with  your  wishes."  ■^.  281  : — 
TOLOV  yap  K\€0<i  eaOXov  aTrcoXecrav  rjvc6')(^oio, 
rjTTLOV,  6  a(f)coiv  /xaXa  TroWaKd  vypbv  tXaiov 
^atrdcov  Kare^eve,  \oecraa<i  vBarc  XevKM. 

D,.  770  : —     €Kvpo<i  Se  7rarr]p  C09  ?'^7rto?  alel. 

fl.  775  : —     ov  yap  rt?  /jLOL  €t  aXA,o9  eVt  Tpoij]  evpely 

■)]7no<i  ovSe  (f)i\o<i,  Trai/re?  8e  fxe  Trecf^pLKaaiv. 

^.  47  : —  irarkp   iaOXov  dirwiXecra,  09  vror'  iv  vfitv 

TOiaBeaaov  ^acriKeve,  iraTi]p  S'  009  r^ino'i  rjev. 

/8.  230,  234  =  6.8,  12:— 

fXTj  Tt9  eVt  7rp6(f)pcov  dyavo^  Kal  r;7rt09  ecrro) 
aK7]7TTOU'x^o'i  /3ao"tXei'9,  firjSe  (f)pealv  alcnp^a  €l8ot)<i, 

*  Freund  (Lex.  s.  v.),  and  Mommsen  (Uiit.  Dial.  p.  287)  say  that  Cicero 
wrote />iiw5  instead  of  pius.  Both  copied  this  false  statement  out  of  For- 
cellini,  without  taking  the  trouhle  to  verify  what  really  stands  in  Quin- 
tilian,  who  only  mentions  aiiu  and  Maiia. 


44  ON  THE  DERIVATION  AND  MEANING  OF  ^TTtO?, 

dW  alel  ^a\e7ro9  t   eirj  koI  alcrvXa  pe^oi, 

ft)9  ovTt<;  fie/u.vTjTac  'OSucrtr^o?  Oeloto 

Xawv,  olaiv  avaaae,  irari^p  S'  co?  i]7no<;  rjev. 

K.  337  : —       Si  K.ipKr],  7r(o<i  yap  fjue  KeXeat  croi  rfTTLOv  elvaf 

"  To  comply  with  yoiir  wishes/'     X.  441 : — 

Tft)  vvv  fiTjirore  koI  av  yvvaiKi  irep  tittlo^  elvai. 

V.  314 : —       TouTO  S"  iyaiv  ev  ol8\  ore  fxoL  Trdpo^;  ^ttIt]  rjada 

^.  139  : —  ov  yap  eV  dXkov 

rjTnov  c5Se  dvaKra  Ki')(7]ao/jLaL,  oiriTocr  iireXdo), 
ovE"  et  xev  irarpo'i  Kal  /uir)Tepo<i  avri^  LKCo/juai 


dlKOV. 


o.  152  : —      »)  yap  efiotye  irarrjp  co?  rjirio^  ^ev. 

o.  490  : —  eVei  dv8po<i  Sco/xar  d(f)iK€o  TroWd  /xoytjcraii 

Tjirlov,  09  hrj  TOL  'irape)(ei  ^pwalv  re  ttoctlv  re. 


A.  218 : —     avrdp  iirel  Ihev  eXKO<i,  off"  efiirecre  TrtKpof  oicrTO?, 
alfjb   iK/J,v^i'](Ta<i  iir  dp  r^vrta  (^dpfxaKa  elhd><i 
Trdcrae. 

A.  515  : —     lr]Tpo<;  yap  dvrjp  ttoWcov  dvTd^io<;  dWcov 

[iou9  T  eKTa/xveiv,  eiri  t  ?';7rta  (fydpfiaKa  Trdaaeiv.^ 

A.  830  : —     fx,7]pov  S'  eKrafjb  oicnov,  dif  avrov  S'  alp,a  KeXaivov 
vl^  vSari  XiapM,  iirl  8  rjiTLa  (papfxaica  Trdcrcre. 

A.  361 : —     olSa  yap  W9  tol  6v/j,o<i  ivl  arrjOeacn  ^IXoicnv 
rjiria  8r)V€a  dlSe. 

Compare  Hesiod,  Th.  236 : — 

avrdp  (Nrjpea)  KaXeovcrt  yepovra 
ovvcKa  vrjfiepr^'i  re  Kal  ^7rto9,  ov8e  defxiarewv 
Xrjderat,  dXXd  SiKaia  Kal  rfma  hr)vea  olhev. 

V,  327  :— 

T?;Xe/ia^ft)  he  Ke  fivOov  eyoi  Kal  fjur^rept  (ftairjv 
rjTTLOv,  el  (T(f)foiv  Kpahirj  dhot  d/u.(f)orepouv. 

n.  73  : —  "T^X^  '^^^  (f)evyovre<:  evavXov<i 

TrXrjcreiav  veKVoov,  e'i  fiot  Kpelcov  ^ Aya/u,e/jbvo)V 
■iJTna  eioeir). 


BY  THEODORE  AUFRECHT,   ESQ.  45 

"  Had  been  kind  towards  me/'  v.  405.  o.  39 : — 

avTo<i  he  TTpcoTtcTTa  av/3coTrjv  elaacfiiKeadac, 
09  Toi  vcbv  iiTLOvpo^,  ofMO)^  Se  Toi  i]7ria  olSev, 
iralSd  T€  aov  (f)i\€et,  Kal  ep^^e^pova  UrjvekoTreiav. 

o.  557  : —  (Tv^corr]^ 

ia0\o<s  eoiv  eviavev,  dvaKrecnv  ijiria  ei'Sco?. 
Z.  251 : —      ev$a  ol  ■^TTLoScopo^i  evavriij  rjXvOe  /MT]Tr]p. 

The  post-Homeric  writers  do  not  differ  in  the  appHcation 
of  rjirLo<i,  except  that  they  use  it  more  freely  as  an  epithet  of 
things.     Thus  Hesiod,  Op.  787  : — 

aXV  epL(f)ov'i  rdfiveLV  Kal  irciiea  fxrjXwv, 
arjKov  T  aii^L^akelv  TTOLfxvrjlov  tjttiov  r/fxap. 

"  A  day  suitable  for—."  Soph.  Phil.  691  :— 

09  rdv  depfjbordrav  aifxaSa  KrjKiofMeyav  eXKecov 
€vdr]pov  7roSo9  tjirloiac  <pvXkoL<i 
KarevvdaeLev,  etc. 
"H7rto9  seems  to  me  to  be  derived  from  a  verb,  just  as  a<yio(i 
is  from  d^o),  dpKio<i  fi'om  dpKew,  dcnrdaLO^;  fi'om  dair  '^ofxai, 
Kko'7TLo<i  from  KkeiTTco,  /j,ei\L'^Lo<;  fi'om  fieikta-ao),  cr(f)djio<i  from 
a(f3d^o).     As  a7io9  agrees  in  every  point  with  the  Sanskiit. 
yajya  {sacrificio  colendus),  so  does  -q7rco<i  correspond  with  the 
Sanskrit  djyya,  of  which  I  shall  treat  presently.     The  root  of 
both  words  is  dp,  to  obtain,  to  acquire,  which  in  Sanskrit 
appears  in  this  form,  but  in  Latin  as  ap.     "H7ri09  might  be 
explained  as  obtainable,   accessible,  easy  to  be  got  at,  from 
which  the  meaning  of  kind  woidd  develope  itself,  just  as  in 
evTrpoaoSo^ ;  but  I  prefer  to  take  another  way.     The  original 
meaning  of  apiscor  is  not  /  get,  but  /  tie  for  myself.     In  the 
primaeval  state  of  civilization,  when  cattle^  formed  the  only 
property,  a  man  acquired  it  by  tying  up  under  his  own  roof 
cows  and  horses  which  he  had  either  found  in  a  wild  state,  or 
taken  in  incursions  into  the  enemy's  territory.    Tliis  meaning 
of  apiscor  rests  upon  the  following  facts.    In  the  first  instance 
we  have  aptus,  which  very  commonly  signifies  ^/omec^,  connected 
with  [apta  et  connexa,  apta  et  cohcerentia,  Cic),  and  the  verb 
apere,  to  tie,  is  recorded  by  Festus  and  Ser\ius.     Fcstus  apud 

*  Pecus  itself  means  olligatum. 


46  ON  THK   DERIVATION  AND  MKANING  OF  ^TTtO?, 

Paul.  Diac.  p.  IG  :  Apex,  qui  est  saccrdotum  insignc,  dictus  est 
ab  eo,  quod  comprehendere  anttqui  vinculo  apere  dicebant.  Ser- 
vius  ad  Virg.  ^n.  x.  270  :  Apere  veteres  ritu  flaminum  alligare 
dicebant,  uude  apicem  dictum  volunf^.  Taking  this  meaning 
of  the  root  ap  as  my  basis,  I  believe  that  ?J7rto9  signified  ori- 
ginally connected,  connected  by  the  ties  of  kindred  or  society, 
and  that  its  usual  meaning  sprang  fi'om  that  source.  I  may 
remind  my  hearers,  that  the  English  kind  owes  its  meaning  to 
a  similar  ])rocess. 

This  etymology  is  supported  by  two  words  which  occur 
frequently  in  the  Yaidic  Sanskrit :  d'pya,  kindred  and  akin, 
and  dpi,  akin.     I  give  a  few  instances. 

1.  dpya,  kindi'ed,  relationship. 

Rv.  i.  105, 13  :  Ague  tava  tyadukthyam  deveshv  asty  apyam. 
"  O  Agni,  thy  relationship  to  the  gods  is  worthy  of  being- 
praised." 

viii.  10,  3  :  Yayor  asti  pra  nah  sakhyam  deveshv  adhy  apyam. 
"Whose  friendship  to  us,  whose  relationship  to  the  gods,  is 
intimate." 

viii.  27, 10:  Asti  hi  vah  sajatyam  rigadaso  devaso  asty  apyam. 
"  O  gods,  destroyers  of  our  enemies,  you  sprang  from  the  same 
parents  and  family." 

2.  dpya,  a  relation. 

Rv.  vii.  15,  1 :  Upasadyaya  milhusha  asye  juhuta  havis, 
Yo  no  nedishtham  apyam. 

"  Pour  the  ghee  into  the  mouth  of  the  revered  liberal  Agni, 
who  is  our  nearest  relation." 

vii.  32,  19 :  Nahi  tvad  anyan  maghavan  na  apyam  vasyo 
asti  pita  cana. 

"  For  no  other  relation,  not  even  our  father,  is  more  liberal 
to  us,  than  thou,  O  Indra." 

viii.  86,  7  :  Ma  na  indra  para  vrinag,bhava  nah  sadhamadyah. 
Tvam  na  uti,  tvam  in  na  apyam,  ma  na  indra  para  vrinak. 

*  Compare  also  Paulus  Diac.  exc. :  ape  apud  antiquos  dicebatur  pro- 
hibe,  compesce. 


BY  THEODORE  AUFRECHT,  ESQ.  47 

"  Do  not  repel  ns,  O  Indra,  but  partake  of  our  rejoicings ; 
thou  art  our  help  and  friend :  O  Indra,  do  not  repel  us." 

3.  dpi,  akin,  related. 

iv.  25,  6 :  Nasushver  apir  na  saklia  na  jamir  dushpravyo 
'vahanted  avjicas. 

'^  Indra  is  neither  a  relation,  nor  fi'iend,  nor  brother,  to  a 
man  who  does  not  sacrifice  to  him  ;  he  hears  not,  but  destroys, 
a  man  who  does  not  praise  him." 

iv.  41,  2 :  Indra   ha   yo  varuna   cakra   api    devau  martah 
sakhyaya  prayasvan, 
Sa  hanti  vritra  samitheshu  9atrun. 
"The  mortal  who  makes  Indra  and  Varuna  his  friends  by 
offering  oblations,  destroys  in  the  battle  all  enemies." 

vi.  45,  17  :  Yo  grinatam  id  asitha  apir  uti  9ivah  sakha 
Sa  tvam  na  indra  mrilaya. 
"  O  Indra,  who  provest  thyself  a  near  relation  and  true  friend 
to  all  who  praise  thee,  prosper  us." 

If  we  except  the  neuter  gender,  which  is  peculiar  to  the 
Sanskrit,  as  for  instance  also  in  mitra,  friend,  vritra,  enemy,  it 
is  clear  that  the  above-mentioned  dpya,  a  relation,  agrees  in 
every  respect  with  •ijirtof. 


VI.— ON  THE  AFFIX  OF  THE  WELSH  DEGEEE  OF 
EQUALITY.     By  Theodore  Atjfeecht,  Esq. 

[Read  May  the  9th.] 

The  terminations  of  the  "Welsh  comparative  and  superlative 
ending  in  ach  and  af  agree  with  the  same  in  the  Armorican, 
formed  by  och  and  a,  for  which  latter  the  ancient  language 
shows  af.     We  have,  for  instance,  in  Welsh  : — 

ffwenn,  white,    gwennach,  whiter,   gwennaf,  whitest. 
In  Armorican  gwenn,      „       gwennoch,       „         gwenna{f.)    „ 


48         ON  THE  AFFIX  OF  THE  WELSH   DEGREE  OF  EQUALITY, 

These  ^terminations   have  been    rightly    compared   with   the 
Latin  ior  (ios),  and  imus  in  such  forms  as  minimus,  infimus. 

The  Welsh  has,  besides,  a  pecidiar  degree  of  comparison, 
wliich,  according  to  the  native  gi'ammarians,  expresses  either 
equality  or  admiration,  and  is  translated  in  English  by  as,  so, 
or  how  with  the  positive.  This  degree  is  formed  from  the 
positive  by  affixing  the  syllable  ed,  observing  the  same  rules 
as  in  the  derivation  of  the  comparative  and  superlative.  We 
have  therefore,  for  instance  : — 

POSITIVE.  COMPARATIVE.        SUPERLATIVE.  EaUAL. 

glan,  ^iure     ....    glanach gl.auaf glaned. 

hardd,  handsome  harddach    ....  harddaf liardded. 

main,  thin    ....    meinach meinaf    meined. 

crwn,  round ....    cryiiach crynaf    cryned. 

tlawd,  j)oor  ....    tlotacli    tlotaf tloted. 

gwlyb,  wet  ....  gwlypach   ....  gwlypaf gwlyped. 

rhad,  cheap  ....    rhatach rhataf. rhated. 

teg,  Jine    tecacli     tecaf teced. 

In  construction,  the  particles  cyn  or  can  (as,  so),  and  in 
South  Wales  mor  (as,  so)  are  frequently,  but  not  necessarily, 
placed  before  it :  daed,  or  cyn  (can)  ddaed,  or  mor  ddued,  as 
good.  A  few  examples,  extracted  from  the  grammars  of 
Owen  Puglie  and  Rowland,  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  appli- 
cation of  this  form. 

I.  Equality. 
"  Cued  ganddo  ei  bleser,  fel  na  ddaw.^'  His  pleasure  is  so 
dear  to  him,  that  he  will  not  come.     "  Y  mac  cyn  ddoethed, 
fel  y  gwyr  y  cwbl."  He  is  so  wise  that  he  knows  the  whole. 
"  Dos  ymaith  (cyn)  gynted  ag  y  gelli.^'  Go  away  as  soon  as 
you  can.     "  Rhedodd  cyn  gyflymed,  fel  na  allodd  ei  ddal." 
He  ran  so  fast  that  he  could  not  be  stopped.     "  Y  mac  Arthur 
cyn  hardded  a  Dafydd.^^  Arthur  is  as  handsome  as  David. 
"  Am  dy  laned 
Bardd  tuchaiied 
A  griddfaned 

Gwrdd  ofynion. — W.  Lleyn. 
For  thou  art  so  beauteous,  let  a  bard  murmur,  and  let  him  loudly 
sigh  his  ardent  wishes. 


BY  THEODORE  AUFRECHT,  ESQ.  49 

Fy  march  melyngan 
Cyfred  a  gwylau. — Taliesin. 
My  steed  of  yellow- white,  as  sivift  as  a  sea-mew. 

Drwg  yw  yu  dryced  an  buchedd. — G.  ab  Gwrgeneu. 
Evil  it  is  to  us  that  so  evil  our  life. 
Arien  deced, 
Eirian  drefred, 
Arwydd  codded. 
Am  dy  giried, 

Er  dy  garu. — Gro.  Dhu. 
As  the  hoar  so  fair,  of  splendid  state,  the  token  of  affliction,  for 
thy  pleasure,  on  account  of  loving  thee." 

II.  Admiration. 

"  Wyned  yw'r  eira  !  Cyn  wyned  yw'r  eira  !  "  How  white  is 
the  snow  !  "  Duw  anwyl,  fyred  eiuioes  !  "  My  beloved  Lord, 
how  short  is  life  ! 

"  Merch  brenin  dwyrain  a  ddaeth  i  Frefi, 
Wrth  glywed  daed  tynged  Dewi. — G.  Brycheiniawg. 
A  daughter  of  the  king  of  the  east  did  come  to  Brevi,  by  hearing 
how  good  the  destiny  of  Dewi. 

Goddefwn,  gwylwn  gwaeled  arnan 
Gwyth  gyman. — LI.  P.  Moch. 
Let  us  be  patient,  let  us  bewail  how  wretched  upon  us  the  contact 
of  wrath. 

Syniwn — 

Dielwed  fydd  dyn  y  dydd  y  ganer. — G.  ab  yr  Ynad  Coch. 
Let  us  consider  how  heljdess  is  man  the  day  he  is  born." 

The  second  category  appears  to  me  quite  identical  with  the 
first,  and  only  qualified  by  the  rhetorical  accent  which  accom- 
panies the  sentence.  The  idea  conveyed  by  saying  "So  short 
is  life !  "  or,  "  Life  is  so  short ! "  is  much  the  same  with 
"  How  short  is  life  \"  There  is  no  reason  to  assume  that  the 
affix  ed  has  in  one  case  a  demonstrative,  in  the  other  a 
relative  or  interrogative  meaning. 

The  ancient  Welsh  preserves  et  instead  of  ed  as  the  termi- 
nation of  the  equal.     I  copy  a  passage  in  Zeuss's  Celtic  Gram- 

E 


50         ON  THE  AFFIX  OF  THE  WELSH   DEGREE  OF  EQUALITY, 

mar,  i.  307  : — "  Notanda  est  post  cuumcratas  tcrminatioiies 
gradationis  Cambrica  terminatio  icqualitatis — ET,  addita  adjcc- 
tivis,  qiiibus  prtefigitur  compositionc  part,  ky,  kyn,  suhditurque 
prtep.  a,  uc  (cum)  :  niiier  hjhardet  a  liwnnw  (coiigrcgatio 
teque  spleudcns  cum  hac),  Mab.  i.  16:  gwas  kynuoulie- 
dicket  athi  (i)uer  seque  nobilis  ac  tu),  i.  204:  achyntristet 
oedynt  ac  agheu  (et  sequc  tristes  erunt  cum  mortc),  i.  36." 

A  grammatical  form  so  commonly  used  in  one  branch  of 
the  Celtic  dialects,  though  not  found  in  the  others,  camiot  be 
without  its  parallel  in  the  wider  range  of  the  Indo-Em^opean 
languages.  I  believe  the  Welsh  et  corresponds  to  the  San- 
skrit vat,  with  the  loss  of  the  initial  v,  in  the  same  manner  as 
in  oen,  pi.  wyn  (lamb),  compared  with  Lat.  ovis,  Sanskrit  avi, 
dpi.  cwn  (dog),  Kvwv,  Sanskrit  nmn;  Mm  (sleep),  Sanskrit 
svajma.  The  Sanskrit  va/^  very  commonly  forms  adverbs, 
expressing  a  similarity  or  likeness,  as  well  from  adjectives  as 
substantives ;  I  give  a  few  instances  : — "  Sa  grigiila  atmanam 
mritavat  sandar9ya  sthitas,"  The  jackal  pretended  to  be  dead ; 
literally,  showing  himself  as  (if)  dead. — Uigveda,  i.  124,  9. 

"Tall  pratnavan  navyasir  nunam  asme  revad  uchantu 
sudina  ushasas."  As  in  old  times  may  the  brilliant  dawn 
appear  again  today  with  her  glorious  light. — Rv.  ii.  17,  1. 

"  Tad  asmai  navyam  Angirasvad  areata."  Smg  to  him  this 
new  song,  as  Angiras  did  before  you ;  literally,  like  Angiras. 

— Rv.  1.  31,  17. 

"  Manushvad  ague,  Angirasvad  angiras,  Yaydtivat  sadane 

purvavac   chuce. 

Acha  yahy,  a  vaha  daivyam  janam."  Brilliant  Agni,  as 
thou  camest  to  Manus,  as  to  ^ngiras,  to  Yayati,  to  our  ances- 
tors, come  to  the  place  of  sacrifice,  and  bring  with  thee  the 
gods. 

These  passages,  the  number  of  which  could  be  greatly 
increased,  may  suffice  to  show,  that  the  two  affixes  et  and 
vat,  though  not  entii-ely  agreeing  in  their  application,  still 
bear  a  certain  likeness  which  proves  them  to  be  of  the  same 
origin. 

*  This  suffix  always  throws  the  accent  on  to  the  last  syllable. 


BY  THEODORE  AUFRECHT^  ESQ.  51 


VII.— ON  THE  NASALIZATION  OP  INITIAL  MUTES 
IN  WELSH.  By  Theodore  Aufrecht,  Esq. 
.  [Read  May  the  23rd.'] 
Professor  Key^  in  his  Paper  on  the  preposition  dvd,  in  the 
Society-'s  Transactions  for  1855  (p.  9),  and  again  in  his  Paper 
on  ivl,  in  the  same  volume  (p,  93),  tries  to  prove  the  affinity 
of  ad  and  dvd,  8v(o  and  vevco,  by  the  analogy  of  similar 
consonantal  changes  in  Welsh.  He  says:  "In  Welsh  the 
interchange  becomes  in  some  cases  a  law  of  the  language,  so 
that  an  initial  d  is  sure  under  certain  circumstances  to  take 
the  form  of  an  n.  Thus,  though  dant  means  ^  tooth/  and 
dysgu  learning/  yet  for  '^ seven  teeth/  'my  learning/  the 
phrases  are  saith  nant,  fy  nysgu."  For  my  part  I  know  no 
instance  where  d  passes  into  n  otherwise  than  by  assimilation. 
We  find  indeed  that  the  Old-Italian  dialects  change  d  into  n, 
but  only  after  a  preceding  w.  The  Umbrian  substitutes 
regularly  nn  for  nd  in  the  middle  of  words,  and  wi'ites  for 
instance  pihaner  for  jnandi,  pane  for  quande* ;  the  Oscan  has 
upsannam  for  operandam,  and  Plautus,  by  birth  an  Umbrian, 
says  in  the  well-known  line  of  the  Miles  Gloriosus, 

"  dispennite  hominem  divorsum  et  distennite/' 

using  dispennite  and  distennite  for  dispendite  and  diste^idite. 
Thus,  for  "to  grunt,'^  one  finds  grunnire  as  frequently  as 
grundire.  In  these  cases  the  cause  by  which  the  change  is 
produced  is  clear,  though  the  mode  of  assimilation  diflfers 
from  the  usual  one. 

As  to  the  Welsh  change  of  an  initial  mute  letter  into  a 
nasal,  we  have  to  observe  that  it  takes  place  only  in  certain 
combinations.  Dant  (tooth)  can  never  become  nant  when  it 
stands  alone,  but  it  may  perhaps  be  allowable  to  say  saith  nant 
(seven  teeth),  though  saith  dant  is  now  alone  usual.  But  C  G, 
PB,  TD,  are  respectively  changed  into  NGH  NG,  MH  M, 

*  The  Umbrian,  like  the  oklest  Latin,  does  not  express  a  double  con- 
sonant in  writing  (compare  Aufrecht  and  Kirchhoff,  Umbrische  Sprach- 
denkm'dler,  i.  pp.  70,  87). 

E  2 


52        ON  THE  NASALIZATION  OF  INITIAL  MUTES  IN  WELSH, 

NH  N,  if  preceded  by  the  possessive  pronoun  fy  (my),  the 
preposition  yii  (in),  and  certain  numerals.  These  immerals  are 
pump  or  pum  (five),  saiih  (seven),  ivyth  (eight),  naw  (nine),  det/ 
(ten),  uffain  (twenty)  and  its  compounds,  can  (a hundred).  It 
would  be  a  grammatical  blunder  to  say  chwech  nkvrnod  (six 
days),  or  pedwar  mivystfil  (four  animals)  instead  of  chwech 
diiornod  and  pedivar  bwystfil.  Only  three  words  imdergo 
usually  a  change  after  these,  namely,  blwydd  or  biynedd 
(year),  and  diwrnod  (day).  The  simple  reason  why  the 
above-mentioned  numerals  only,  and  no  others,  have  this 
influence,  is,  because  they  alone  ended  originally  with  an  n. 
Compare 

WELSH.  SANSKRIT.  GOTHIC.  LITHUANIAN. 

pump pancan 

saith     saptan    sibun septyni. 

wyth    ashtan     asztuni. 

nau navan . niun   dewyni. 

deg dayan taihun 

On  the  other  hand  we  have  : 

dau dvi tvai    du. 

tri tri thri     trys. 

pedwar catvar     fidvor keturi. 

chwech     ....  sliash saihs szeszi. 

Can,  a  corruption  of  cant,  which  still  exists  and  agrees  with 
the  Irish  cet,  has  exceeded  these  limits,  and  produces  the 
change  in  consequence  of  its  present  final  n,  while  un  (one)  is 
prevented  from  exercising  a  similar  influence  because  it  ori- 
ginally terminated  with  a  vowel  {und).  The  preposition  yn 
agrees  with  eV,  Latin  in,  Gothic  in,  Oscan  and  Umbrian 
en,  Lithuanian  in,  and  belongs  to  the  same  category  as 
pump,  &c. 

In  composition,  a  corresponding  nasal  must  be  substituted 
for  a  mute,  if  a  word  is  preceded  by  the  negative  particle  an, 
which  corresponds  to  the  Greek  av,  Umbrian  and  Oscan  an, 
Sanskrit  an,  Gothic  un,  Latin  in.  Thus  we  have  anghadarn 
(powerless)  for  an  +  cadarn,  anmhech  (sinless)  for  an  +pech, 
anneffro  (not  awake)  for  an  +  deffro.     Tlie  same  takes  place 


BY  THEODORE  AUFRECHT,  ESQ. 


53 


after  another  particle,  cy,  ^uv,  cum-,  we  find,  therefore, 
cynyhas  (mutual  hate)  from  cy  -[-  cas,  cyngofal  (mutual  care) 
from  cy  -|-  gofal,  cymhorth  (mutual  aid)  from  cy-porth,  cy- 
mrawdd  (discom'se)  from  cy-braivdd,  cynhebygu  (to  compare) 
from  cy  +  tebygu,  cynefod  (custom)  from  cy  -\-  defod. 

For  all  these  cases  it  is  evident,  that  the  n  coming  in  con- 
tact with  the  following  mute,  had  the  power  to  assimilate  it, 
though  in  course  of  time  the  cause  might  disappear  and  the 
efiect  alone  remain.  An  ordinary  Welshman  in  saying  deg 
mlynedd  is  as  little  able  to  account  for  the  transmutation  of 
the  b  into  m,  as  any  unschooled  man  in  England  to  explain  the 
transition  of  the  ou  in  mouse  into  the  i  of  mice.  Certain  gi-am- 
matical  processes  are  conventionally  continued  for  centuries, 
when  the  power  that  first  put  them  in  operation  has  long 
vanished,  and  they  appear  then  to  the  untutored  eye  as  arbi- 
trary, or  are  falsely  attributed  to  euphony. 

Ha^ing  shown  that  nasalization  took  place  only  where  a 
preceding  Avord  ended  with  an  n,  we  are  naturally  led  to  suppose 
that  fy  (my)  also  must  have  been  originally  fyn,  though  this 
form  is  no  longer  to  be  discovered  even  in  the  oldest  literary 
monuments  of  the  Kelt.  But  we  must  recollect,  that  our  my, 
thy,  are  a  similar  corruption  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  mm,  \hi, 
and  that  the  Gothic  mein,  as  well  as  the  Lithuanian  mdnas, 
have  an  n  in  the  possessive  pronomi. 

This  may  suflice  to  show  that  the  transition  in  "Welsh  of 
mutes  into  nasals  is  based  on  the  same  principle  as  that  by 
which  the  Latin  distendite  is  changed  into   distennite,   and 
cannot  be  employed  as  an  analogy  for  totally  different  cases. 
As  long  as  it  remains  unproved,  that  d  standing  by  itself,  and 
not  in  contact  with  other  consonants,  can  pass  into  n,  the 
comparison  of  avd  and  ad,  Svtw  and  veuto  must  be  considered 
as  problematical.    This  proof  would  be  given,  if  the  Lithuanian 
dewyni  (nine)  and  debesis  (heaven)  were  really  simple  trans- 
mutations of  the  Sanskrit  navan  and  nabhas,  Latin  novem  and 
nebula ;  but  I  need  not  dwell  on  these  words,  as  the  true 
explanation  of  them  has  been  already  advanced  by  Professor 
Ahrens  in  the  Rheinisches  Museum,  1843,  pp.  169,  170,  where 
he  shows  that  the  oldest  forms  of  navan  and  nabhas  were 


51        ON  THE   ETYMOLOGY  OK  THE   LATIN  ADVERB  ACTUTUM, 

dnavan  and  dnabhas  (Greek  8v6(f>o<i,  loBve(f)i]<;) ,  of  wliich  some 
languages  preserved  the  nasal,  the  Lithuanian  the  lingual 
letter. 


VIII.— ON   THE    ETYMOLOGY    OP    THE    LATIN    AD- 
VERB ACTUTU2L     By  Theodore  Aufrecht,  Esq. 
[Read  June  the  \3thJ\ 

Dr.  Ebel  proposes,  in  Kuhn's  Zeitschrift,  iv.  320,  a  new  and 
very  ingenious  derivation    of  actutum.     This  adverb   occurs 
frequently  in  the  older  Latin  literature,  especially  in  Plautus, 
veiy  rarely  in  the  classical  period,  and  has  the  meaning  of 
"  quickly,  shortly,  instantly.''     Compainng  it  with  the  German 
augenblicklich, — to  which  the  English  phrase  "  in  the  twinkling 
of  an  eye,"  the  French  en  un  din  d'oeil,  St.  Paul's  iv  piTrfj 
6<^6a\iJiov,    and    the    Sanskrit    nimesha    might    have    been 
added, — Dr.  Ebel  thinks,  that  actutum  is  a  compound  of  ac 
and  tutum.     He  takes  the  latter  word  as  the  past  participle 
of  tueri,  and  recognizes  in  the  former  the  shorter  and  older 
form  of  ocidus.     That    such   a  shorter  foi'm  has  really   ex- 
isted, is  proved  by  the  Greek   co-v/r,   which    appears    with    a 
short  vowel  in  compounds  like  aldo-^,  olvo->^.    Again,  if  the 
Sanskrit  ukshi   (eye)    can  be  compared  with  these  words,  I 
would  suggest  that  even  this  word  exists  in  a  monosyllabic 
form  in  the  Vaidic  an-aksh,  eyeless,  blind.     Nor  does  the  a 
in  the  supposed  ac,  as  compared  with  the  o  in  oculus,  con- 
stitute a  real  difficidty,  for  the  a  appears  in  the  Lithuanian 
akis  and  the  old   Prussian  ackis,   and  there  is  no  want  of 
instances  in  which  an  original  a  coexisted  with  an  e,  i,  or  o. 
Thus  we  find  gressus  gradior,  fessus  fatiscor,  ferctum  farctum, 
pignus  pang  ere,  avis  avilla,  foveo  favilla,  fovea  favissa.     So 
far,  therefore,  we  must  allow  that  the  proposed  derivation,  if 
not  true,  claims  the  right  of  being  possible. 

But  is  there  really  any  necessity  to  go  beyond  the  actual 
state  of  the  Latin,  and  to  give  up  the  usual  explanation  of 


BY  THEODORE  AUFRECHT,  ESQ. 


55 


actutum  ?  I  think  not.  Scholars  may  differ  as  to  the  mode 
of  derivation,  but  I  doubt  whether  many  will  be  inclined  to 
separate  actutum  from  actus.  Passing  over  those  authors 
who  in  full  earnest  explained  our  adverb  as  a  compound  of 
actu  and  turn,  I  quote  a  more  reasonable  explanation  proposed 
by  Lindemann  (De  Adverbio  Latino  Specimen  iv.,  Zittav-iae, 
1827,  p.  17)  :  "Actutum  quid  sit,  nondum  recte  expHcatum 
legi,  descendere  ^ddetur  ab  antiquo  verbo  actuere,  quod  eodem 
modo  ab  subst.  actus  efformatum  fuit,  ut  statuere  a  statu. 
Sit  igitur  actuere  in  actu  ponere,  quemadmodum  statuere 
statui  reponere,  statum  alicui  rei  dare.  Unde  participium 
actutus  in  actu  positus,  ad  actum  emotus,  exercitus.  Ergo 
actutum  significabit  cum  actu  multo,  non  segniter,  celeriter, 
thatig,  rasch,  actutum  redi,  kehre  rasch  zuriick,  kehre  eilig 
zuriick."  But  are  we  to  suppose  also  verbs  like  astuere, 
cornuere,  nasuere,  in  order  to  explain  astutus,  cornutus, 
nasutus ? 

Actus  signifies  not  only  action,  act,  acting,  but  occm's  also 
sometimes  in  the  sense  of  motion,  movement,  activity.    Lucan 

says — 

Pilaque  coutorsit  violent!  spiritus  actu. 
Virgil —  >  T 

Fertur  in  abruptum  magno  mons  inprobus  actu. 

Petronius — 

Pocula  quae  facili  vilis  rota  finxerat  actu. 

Lucretius,  iii.  186 — 

At  quod  mobile  tautopere  est,  constare  rutundis 
Perquam  seminibus  debet  perquamque  minutis, 
Momine  uti  parvo  possiut  impulsa  moveri, 
Namque  movetur  aqua,  et  tantillo  momine  flutat, 
Quippe  volubilibus  parvisque  creata  figuris. 
At  contra  mellis  constautior  est  natura, 
Et  pigri  latices  magis,  et  cunctantior  actus. 
Two  derivatives  of  actus  show  the  same  meaning, — actuarius 
in  actuarium  navigium,  a  fast-sailing  ship  (compare  celox),  and 
actuosus  (but  this  only  metaphorically).    Seneca  says,  "  Nostcr 
animus  in  motu  est,  eo  mobilior  et  actuosior,  quo  vehementior 
fuerit,"  and  Cicero  de  Oratore,  iii.  26,  which  passage  must  be 


56   ON  THE  ETYMOLOGY  OF  THE  LATIN  ADVERB  ACTUTUM. 

read  with  the  context,  "  quam  leniter,  qiiam  reraisse,  quam 
noil  actuose."  That  agere  itself  implied  sometimes  a  rapid 
motion,  is  shown  by  aye,  agite,  "  be  on  the  move,''  and  agi/is'^. 
This  is  the  point  from  which  we  must  proceed,  in  order  to 
explain  actutmn.  The  Romans  formed  from  actus  an  adjective 
actutus,  meaning  "endowed  Avith  movement,  being  on  the 
move,  ftdl  of  activity,"  so  that  for  instance  "ite  actutura  in 
fr'midiferos  locos''  would  be  translated  literally  "go  in-a- 
state-of-lively-actiAity  into  leafy  places."  The  neuter  alone 
is  noAV  preserved,  the  adjective  being  lost  in  the  same  way  as 
is  the  case  wdth  tcmere.  The  transition  from  the  notion  of 
acti\dty  into  that  of  speed  is  simjjle  and  common  enough. 
We  find  an  analogy  in  "quick  quickly,  alive  lively,"  life 
presupposing  a  superior  degree  of  activity, 

I  add  a  few  words  on  the  formation  of  actutum.  It  agrees 
entirely  with  cinctutus  and  versutus,  which  are  derived  from  the 
substantives  cinctus  and  versus,  the  formation  from  the  latter 
having  taken  place  at  a  time  when  it  still  had  its  original 
meaning  of  "turning."  The  same  affix  appears  in  astutus, 
cornutus,  nasutus,  verutus,  from  astu,  cornu,  nasus  {us-f),veru. 
In  aB  these  forms  I  consider  the  iitus  as  a  contraction  of 
u-itus,  and  compare  them  "vvith  the  two  adjectives  fortu-itus 
and  gratu-ltus.  The  two  voAvels  u-\-i,  that  is,  the  u  of  the 
base  and  the  i  of  the  affix,  coalesce  into  u  just  as  in  manus  for 
manu-is,  equitatii  (dat.)  for  equitatu-i.  The  same  affiix  appears 
in  auritus,  crinitus,  ignitus,  pellitus,  turritus,  mellitus,  for 
auri-itus,  crini-itus  and  so  on,  and  has  the  meaning  of  "  pos- 
sessed of,  endowed  with."  That  this  itus  stands  in  a  near 
connexion  with  the  tus  {itus)  of  the  past  participle  need 
hardly  be  stated. 

*  The  best  translation  of  affilis  in  German  would  be  "  riihrig." 
t  This  form  has  not  yet  come  to  light,  but  must  be  inferred  from  nasutus. 
From  nasus,  nasi  we  should  have  nasitus,  just  as  galeritus  comes  from 
galerum,  and  avitus  from  avus.  If  this  supposition  be  true,  we  should  have 
for  '  nose '  five  different  forms  in  Latin,  nasus,  -i,  and  nasum,  naris,  nasus, 
-us,  and  lastly  a  monosyllabic  form  7ias,  seen  in  nasturcium.  Compare  Varro 
apud  Nonium,  p.  12,  "  nasturcium  nonne  vides  ab  eo  dici,  quod  nasum 
torqueat,  vestispicam,  quod  vestem  speciat?"  And  Virgil,  Moretum,  84, 
"  quaeque  trahunt  acri  vultus  nastiu'cia  morsu." 


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